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EUROPE’S Airbus posted a sharp drop in first-quarter core profit yesterday, falling well below market expectations as the world’s largest planemaker delivered fewer aircraft and was hurt by a weaker US dollar.
Adjusted operating profit fell 52 per cent to 300 million euros ($351m), while revenue declined 7pc to 12.65 billion euros in the three months to March 31.
Analysts had on average forecast adjusted operating profit of 348m euros on revenue of 12.39bn euros, according to company-compiled consensus data.
The European planemaker is racing against time to deliver the 870 aircraft it has targeted for 2026 after handing over 114 commercial aircraft in the quarter, down 16pc from 136 a year earlier and below the 143 aircraft delivered by US rival Boeing in the same period.
The group left its full-year guidance unchanged, reaffirming a target production rate of between 70 and 75 A320-family aircraft per month by the end of 2027 – a goal it trimmed in February from an earlier ambition of hitting 75 per month by the start of that year.
Even as orders remain strong, the France-based company is contending with late engine shipments from US-based supplier Pratt & Whitney which are falling short of its needs.
In an escalating dispute over late engine shipments that is threatening its efforts to lift aircraft production, Airbus is now pursuing potential damages, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters in March.
A rare bright spot in the quarter came from Airbus’s defence and space business, which posted adjusted core profit of 130m euros, well ahead of the average estimate of 111m.
Airbus chief executive officer Guillaume Faury said Airbus remained at an impasse with Pratt over engine deliveries, but stressed that both sides were actively working to find a resolution.
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