Airbus parent EADS has reported a €12 million ($17.1 million) first-quarter net loss, a sharp turnaround from the €103 million net profit it posted in the same period last year. However, the company was bullish on the future performance of Airbus and stated that the positive momentum seen in the aviation industry has required the European manufacturer to increase production of its single-aisle aircraft to 40 per month by Q1 2012.
In the first three months of 2011, the order taken amounted to € 6.3 billion, and EADS’ order book of more than €422 billion, the company says, provides a solid platform for future deliveries.
First quarter revenues were € 9.9 billion. The EBIT figure stood around €230 million (Q1 2010 was around €150 million) for EADS and EBIT for Airbus was €160 million versus €80 million in Q1 2009. EADS reported these figures benefited from good underlying performance on legacy programmes and favourable phasing of costs at Airbus.
EADS’ net cash position was €12.2 billion, thanks the company said to strong cash-flow management in the first quarter. It also stated that the adverse effects of events in Japan and North Africa on the commercial aircraft market is expected to be of a temporary nature, and that it was continuing to monitoring the global economic situation.
”Our first quarter financial results reflect a good start to 2011. The early market success of the A320neo validates the significant prospects we envisage for this programme and the acquisition of Vector Aerospace in Canada is a major step forward in expanding our services offering. We also signed the A400M contract amendment, which provides a solid base to further advance this key programme”, said Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS. “While advancing with the A350 XWB through achieving several critical milestones, this decisive programme continues to require our closest attention.”
EADS has also confirmed its 2011 guidance based on an assumption of € 1 = $ 1.35 for the year-end closing spot rate. In 2011, Airbus should deliver 520 to 530 commercial aircraft and its gross orders should be above its deliveries. EADS expects 2011 revenues to be above 2010 revenues. The company also expects 2011 EBIT before one-off charges to remain stable compared to the 2010 level, at around €1.3 billion. “Going forward, reported EBIT* and Earnings Per Share (EPS) performance of EADS will be dependent on the Group’s ability to execute on the A400M, A380 and A350 XWB programmes, in line with the commitments made to its customers,” EADS reported.