Paris: Airbus Group took a €1.4 billion (Dh5.6 billion; $1.5 billion) hit for problems with Europe’s troubled A400M troop plane and its A350 jetliner on Wednesday, clouding better than expected quarterly profits.
Delays in deliveries of another keenly awaited jet, the revamped A320neo jetliner, which competes with Boeing’s upcoming 737 MAX, also weighed on Europe’s largest aerospace group, whose core profits fell 4 per cent in the second quarter.
Shares in the Franco-German-led group rose over 4 per cent, however, as helicopter and defence units outperformed forecasts and the company stuck to its targets for the year. Airbus Group posted €1.03 billion of charges for the A400M following gearbox problems and fuselage cracks and €385 million for the A350, whose deliveries have been held up by shortages of seats and, most recently, botched toilet doors.
