An Airbus A300-600ST, nicknamed Beluga, seen here in Kobe City, Japan. Photo / Naoki Maeda,Yomiuri, Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP
An Airbus A300-600ST, nicknamed Beluga, seen here in Kobe City, Japan. Photo / Naoki Maeda,Yomiuri, Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP
Aerospace group Airbus posted an 85% rise in first-half profit to $2.88 billion, even though it delivered fewer commercial planes compared to the same period last year.
Citing “persistent engine supply issues” for its A320 narrow-body jets, Airbus said 306 planes were delivered overall in the first half.
That wasdown from 323 in the first half of last year.
It said it secured net orders for 402 aircraft in the first half, up from 310 in the same period last year.
That helped push revenues up 3% to €29.6b ($57.2b).
The jump in profits to €1.5 billion came a year after Airbus reported a 46% slump in earnings for the first half of 2024.
Operating profit, which analysts often consider a better gauge of underlying business performance, rose 11% to €1.6b.
Looking ahead, Airbus said its targets did not exclude the potential impact from the US tariffs being imposed by President Donald Trump, and it still expected to deliver 820 commercial aircraft this year.
“On tariffs, the recent political agreement between the EU and the US to revert to a zero-tariff approach for civil aircraft is a welcome development for our industry,” chief executive Guillaume Faury said in a statement.
At the end of last month, 60 planes were still waiting to receive their engines from CFM, a joint venture between the Safran and GE groups, as well as Pratt & Whitney engines, Faury said in a press conference call.
“In terms of aircraft production and availability, with the exception of the engines for these aircraft, we are actually much further ahead than 306 aircraft at the current stage,” said Faury, expressing confidence in meeting the 820 delivery forecast.
Toilet shortage
Airbus’ director of commercial aircraft, Christian Scherer, said in June that other aircraft, especially the wide-body A350, were suffering a backlog because of a toilet shortage.
“You can’t really build an airplane without a toilet,” he quipped before the Paris Air Show, highlighting the fragile state of the sector’s supply chain, where a small bottleneck can put at risk ambitious commercial programmes.
A year ago, Airbus’ half-year net profit plummeted 46% because of expenses related to space activities.
Responding to a drop in demand for telecommunications satellites, which hit its financial performance, Airbus in October announced 2500 job cuts in its defence and space division, a figure it revised downwards in December to 2043.
An Airbus H130 helicopter, designed for passenger transport, sightseeing, VIP duties, medical airlift and surveillance. Photo / Supplied
The company’s forecast for 2025 remained unchanged as it said it was targeting adjusted operating profit “of approximately €7 billion”.
Airbus said it had already felt the impact of 10% tariffs in effect since April and was “reassured, but cautious” after the agreement announced on Sunday between the United States and the European Union re-establishing a zero-tariff regime for aeronautics.
Asked whether President Donald Trump’s support for Boeing, its main competitor, could disadvantage Airbus, Faury said: “Knowing that Boeing benefits from this extremely powerful political support, it forces us to be even better.”
