Business & Economy

Airbus earns 362 million euros in 1st quarter

Paris, Apr 29 (EFE) .- Airbus turned over 362 million euros ($439 million) of profit in the first quarter, which contrasts with the 481 million euros it had lost in the same period in 2020, the aeronautical group announced Thursday.

This improvement in the situation was evident in the net operating result (EBIT), which multiplied almost by five (+485 percent), to 462 million euros, he said.

Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said in a statement that “the good results” of the first quarter reflect the good performance in the delivery of commercial aircraft, the containment of costs and cash outflow. He said the progress of the restructuring plan and the positive contributions of helicopter, defense and space activities also added to that.

Turnover experienced a 2 percent drop, to 10,460 million euros, explained above all by the 4 percent decline in its commercial aircraft activity to 7.2 billion euros.

The company attributed this decline in business volume in commercial aircraft mainly to lower volume in services.

The European manufacturer delivered 125 commercial aircraft in the first quarter, a figure almost equivalent to the 122 in the same period last year, when the impact of the coronavirus caused a halt in air activity in the world. Because of that, companies began to suspend the receipt of new aircraft in their fleets.

That effect is evident in the numbers of new orders: in gross terms Airbus received 39 between January and March, compared with 356 in those same three months a year earlier.

But if net orders are examined (including cancellations), in reality the European group had to subtract 61 aircraft from its order book in that quarter, when in the first quarter of 2020 it had added 290.

The cut in revenue was minimal in the helicopter business (-2 percent to 1.1 billion euros), while in defense and space it remained stable (2.1 billion euros).

Ebit for commercial aircraft increased fivefold in the first quarter to 343 million euros, while it increased 17 percent for helicopters to 62 million euros. In the defense and space business, it went from negative 53 million between January and March 2020 to positive 17 million in the first quarter of 2021.

After the Covid-19 outbreak, Airbus announced in April 2020 adjustment measures to adapt production to the new circumstances and in June this became a restructuring plan that would mean a cut of 15,000 jobs in its commercial aircraft division.

A cut that was added to another 2,000 jobs in the defense and space business that had been scheduled since February of last year.

As of Mar. 31, the global workforce of the company was 127,814 people, 3 percent less than the 131,349 at the end of 2020.

Airbus has not changed the outlook for 2021 that it presented in February, meaning it is confident of delivering the same number of commercial aircraft as last year and obtaining an adjusted EBIT of 2 billion euros. EFE

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