Earnings plunge by almost half at aerospace giant
Earnings at Airbus fell by more than half due to a huge writedown in its space operations.
Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by 56 per cent to €814m £686m in the period to June.
The aerospace giant said its space unit had received “significant” charges of €989m, higher than previously forecast last month.
Airbus reported revenues of € 28.8 bn in the first six months of the year.
The firm, employs around 4,500 staff at its wing-making plant at Broughton near Chester and several thousand people in Filton near Bristol, delivered 323 commercial aircraft during the period.
Guillaume Faury
“The half-year financial performance mainly reflects significant charges in our space business. We are addressing the root causes of these issues,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus chief executive.
“In commercial aircraft, we are focused on deliveries and preparing the next steps of the ramp-up, while addressing specific supply chain challenges and protecting the sourcing of key work packages.”
The order backlog currently amounts to 8,585 commercial aircraft at the end of June 2024.
Airbus Defence and Space’s order intake by value was € 6.1 bn.
A total of 323 commercial aircraft were delivered, made up of 28 A220s, 261 A320 Family, 13 A330s and 21 A350s.
Revenues generated by Airbus’ commercial aircraft activities increased four per cent, mainly reflecting the higher number of deliveries.
Revenues at Airbus Defence and Space increased seven per cent, mainly driven by the Air Power business, partly offset by the recent update of Estimates at Completion assumptions in Space Systems. Four A400M military airlifters were delivered in the first half of the year.
As the basis for its 2024 guidance Airbus is expecting no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the company’s internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services.
