Airbus earnings plunge as space unit hit by £833m charge
Airbus earnings plunged by more than half as it’s finances were weighed on by a huge writedown in its space operations.
Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) tumbled 56 per cent to €814m (£686m) in the three months ending June. The French manufacturer said its embattled space unit had received “significant” charges of €989m, higher than previously forecast last month.
Half-year revenue jumped four per cent to €28.8bn, buoyed by some 323 commercial aircraft deliveries, a rise of seven year-on-year.
“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 officer.
He added: “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.”
It comes after a number of deals were announced at this year’s Farnborough Airshow. Airbus notched up 266 orders over the week, although this was a far sight lower than the 826 it made at the Paris Air Show a year earlier.
Both of the two largest aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, have been impacted by supply chain issues and staff shortages following the pandemic.
It has meant deliveries have struggled to keep pace with a boom in orders stemming from resurgent travel demand in the last two-years. The 323 aircraft delivered over the first six months marked a year-on-year improvement, but was also fell over the second quarter as supply chain snarl-ups bit.
Airbus reaffirmed its full-year guidance of €5.5bn on Wednesday, although this was significantly down on its prior goal of as high as €7bn.
Airbus’s share price has fallen over five per cent this year to date, although its rival Boeing is down over 25 per cent.
Its US competitor has been grappling with the fallout from the Alaska Airlines blowout incident in January, which prompted a criminal investigation and the departure of a string of top-level executives.