Airbus reported on Wednesday a first quarter net loss of €481 million or (€0.61) per share on a 15 percent decline in revenue to €10.631 billion. The company booked net aircraft orders of 290 during the quarter and has a backlog of 7,650 commercial aircraft.
Today, Airbus SE (XFRA: AIR) reported a first quarter net loss of €481 million or (€0.61) per share on a 15 percent year-over-year revenue decline to €10.6 billion. The company reported a negative free cash flow before M & A and customer financing of (€8.0) billion, including (€3.6) billion in penalties. The market environment in the first quarter was negatively impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, but the company is focused on matching production to demand and preserving cash. During the quarter, the company booked 290 new aircraft orders and as of March 31, 2020 Airbus had a healthy backlog of 7,650 commercial aircraft. In Wednesday’s announcement, Airbus’ Chief Executive Officer, Guillaume Faury said,
“We saw a solid start to the year both commercially and industrially but we are quickly seeing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic coming through in the numbers. We are now in the midst of the gravest crisis the aerospace industry has ever known. We’re implementing a number of measures to ensure the future of Airbus. We kicked off early by bolstering available liquidity to support financial flexibility. We’re adapting commercial aircraft production rates in line with customer demand and concentrating on cash containment and our longer-term cost structure to ensure we can return to normal operations once the situation improves. At all times, the health and safety of Airbus’ employees is out top priority. Now we need to work as an industry to restore passenger confidence in air travel as we learn to coexist with this pandemic. We’re focused on the resilience of our company to ensure business continuity.”
Airbus delivered 122 aircraft in the first quarter including 8 A220s, 96 A320 Family, 4 A330s and 14 A350s. As previously announced, average monthly production has been adjusted to 40 A320 Family, 2 A330s and 6 A350s, a reduction of about a third compared to pre-crisis levels. At the company’s Mirabel, Canada A220 Final Assembly Line, production is expected to progressively return to 4 aircraft monthly.
Airbus ended the first quarter with a consolidated net cash position of €3.6 billion and a gross cash position of €18.4 billion. The company has taken numerous actions to ensure liquidity including the securing of a new €15 billion credit facility, withdrawing the 2019 dividend proposal and suspending discretionary pension funding. Additionally, the company issued a €2.5 billion bond, partially terming out the €15 billion credit facility and reduced 2020 capital expenditures by around €700 million to €1.9 billion. Shares in Airbus SE (XFRA: AIR) were trading 8.11% higher Wednesday evening to €58.27/share (5:24 PM CEST).
Source: Airbus