By PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus maintained financial and industrial targets as it posted higher-than-expected third-quarter core profit and revenues on Wednesday, led by demand for profitable models and a favourable annual comparison for its troubled space business.
The world’s largest planemaker said its widely-watched adjusted operating profit rose 39% to 1.407 billion euros ($1.53 billion) in the quarter as revenues rose 5% to 15.689 billion.
Analysts were on average expecting third-quarter operating profit of 1.2 billion euros on revenues of 15.302 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.
Airbus earlier announced it had delivered the first long-range single-aisle A321XLR jet to Spain’s Iberia and secured an order for 60 jets from Saudi startup Riyadh Air.
CEO Guillaume Faury said Airbus continued to face complex supply chain and geopolitical challenges but held fast to its commercial delivery target of about 770 jets in 2024, despite previously reported deliveries that missed market expectations in the first nine months of the year.
“We remain focused on our priorities, including ramping up commercial aircraft deliveries and transforming our Defence and Space division,” he said in a statement.
Airbus took no new charges for its satellites business after 1.5 billion euros of charges in recent quarters but it has indicated that more could follow as it digs further into losses in satellites, particularly for its troubled OneSat project.
Airbus reaffirmed production goals but said it was “actively managing” a specific supply chain problem that could impact the ramp-up trajectory for the A350 in 2025, without elaborating.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Airbus was facing concerns over supplies of parts from Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR), raising the prospect of delays in deliveries of some jets including the long-haul A350 next year.
($1 = 0.9205 euros)