Airbus raises free cash flow to £3.8bn but supply chain remains ‘fragile’
Airbus has raised its free cash flow outlook to €4.5bn (£3.8bn) – up from the €3.5bn previously forecast – due to a strong dollar.
In the third quarter, the EU plane maker’s revenue went up 27 per cent to €13.3bn, reaching €38.1bn for the nine months to the end of September.
On the other hand, adjusted EBIT in the three months ended 30 September amounted to €836m – down on analysts’ predictions of €887m.
“The supply chain remains fragile resulting from the cumulative impact of Covid, the war in Ukraine, energy supply issues and constrained labour markets,” commented chief executive Guillaume Faury.
Nevertheless, Airbus has maintained its delivery target of 700 planes by the year’s end in addition to an adjusted EBIT of €5.5.bn.
“Our teams are focused on our key priorities and in particular, delivering the commercial aircraft ramp-up over the coming months and years,” Faury added.
Airbus’s results come a few days after rival Boeing shrunk its losses in the commercial plane business but took a $2.8bn hit from its defence unit.
Revenue in commercial aviation went up $6.3bn driven by the resumption of 787 and 737 deliveries, but overall loss per share was $5.49 as a result of the unit hobbling recovery.