Airbus ‘warns employees on cash flow’ in defence and space business amid Saudi arms ban
Airbus’ second-most profitable division, its defence and space business, is said to have warned employees it faces serious challenges meeting cashflow for 2019.
It comes after the company also urged its 33,000 workers to save more cash in the final quarter of last year.
The last quarter is usually a period of more challenging cash flow, with government clients often slow to pay up for work.
But Airbus is said to be feeling the pinch even more this year, as it remains tangled in a dispute with Germany over arms exports to Saudi Arabia.
Germany froze arms exports to the Gulf kingdom after Saudi agents killed journalist Jamal Kashoggi last year
Airbus says the moratorium on defense export licenses has disrupted an already long-delayed Saudi border systems contract.
Subsequently, the firm’s defence and space staff have been urged to take steps to improve the unit’s cash flow by the end of the year, according to Reuters sources.
Airbus took a total of €208m (£187m) in first-half charges related to the Saudi contract, but has declined to put any numbers on the fallout to its cash flow.
Morning Wire has contacted Airbus for comment.