Airbus has reported revenues of €46.2 billion ($51.4 billion) for the first nine months (9m) of the year, as against €40.4 billion during 9m 2018, a rise of 14.35 per cent driven by higher deliveries, a favourable mix and foreign exchange rate development.

A total of 571 commercial aircraft were delivered (9m 2018: 503 aircraft), comprising 33 A220s, 422 A320 Family, 34 A330s, 77 A350s and 5 A380s. Airbus Helicopters delivered 209 units (9m 2018: 218 units) with its stable revenues supported by growth in services and reduced by programme phasing.
 
Airbus’ EBIT Adjusted increased sharply to €3,833 million (9m 2018: €2,340 million), largely driven by the A320 ramp-up and NEO premium, progress on the A350 financial performance and foreign exchange improvement which already materialised in H1 2019.

On the A320 programme, NEO aircraft represented 338 out of the total 422 deliveries. The production ramp-up continued for the Airbus Cabin Flex (ACF) version of the A321, which remains challenging. The ACF programme will further ramp up in Q4 2019 with efforts continuing throughout 2020 to improve the industrial maturity of the programme.

Airbus also continues to study different options to increase the share of the A321 in current A320 Family production capacity. The ramp-up of the A330neo continued and represented 26 of the total 34 A330 deliveries over the nine-month period. Airbus continued to make good progress on A350 recurring cost convergence with the programme on track to reach the breakeven target for the year.
 
Airbus Helicopters’ EBIT Adjusted was stable at €205 million (9m 2018: €202 million), reflecting an increased contribution from services which was reduced by a less favourable delivery mix.

Gross commercial aircraft orders totalled 303 (9m 2018: 311 aircraft), including 20 A330neos and 22 A350 XWBs in the third quarter alone, with net orders of 127 aircraft (9m 2018: 256 aircraft). The order book stood at 7,133 commercial aircraft as of 30 September 2019.

Net helicopter orders of 173 units (9m 2018: 230 units) included 12 H135s in the third quarter. Airbus Defence and Space’s order intake by value totalled €6.1 billion, with third quarter bookings supported by key contract wins in Space Systems.

 “Our nine-month results are mainly driven by the performance in commercial aircraft, reflecting both the A320neo ramp-up and progress on the A350,” said Airbus chief executive officer Guillaume Faury.

“We are focused on the A320neo ramp-up and improving the industrial flow while managing the higher level of complexity on the A321 ACF in particular. Our nine-month delivery numbers and the updated delivery outlook for the year reflect the underlying actions to secure a more efficient delivery flow in the next years as we progress to rate 63 per month for the A320 Family in 2021.

“The full-year free cash flow guidance has been adjusted to reflect the revised delivery outlook while the EBIT Adjusted target is maintained. We are focused on meeting our customer commitments and preparing the production system for the future,” he added.

Outlook

As the basis for its 2019 guidance, Airbus  expects the world economy and air traffic to grow in line with prevailing independent forecasts, which assume no major disruptions.

Airbus now targets around 860 commercial aircraft deliveries in 2019, which reflects the updated delivery schedule. On that basis, the company maintains its expected increase in EBIT Adjusted of approximately +15 per cent compared to 2018.  – TradeArabia News Service