The aircraft manufacturer's profits fell by over 5 billion euros and the company is preparing itself for a longer sales crisis with planned job cuts.
The corona crisis and the planned reduction of around 15,000 jobs heavily affected the aviation and armaments group Airbus in the third quarter with a loss of 767 million Euro following a profit of 989 million Euro in the same quarter of the previous year. The job cuts were particularly severe. Airbus sets aside EUR 1.2 billion for the planned conversion.
Sales in the current business slumped by 27 percent year-on-year to EUR 11.2 billion due to the slowdown in passenger jet deliveries. Adjusted for extraordinary costs, operating profit (adjusted EBIT) fell by 49 percent to EUR 820 million but was higher than analysts had expected. The company also recorded a positive cash inflow from acquisitions and customer financing.
The Airbus management is aiming for at least break-even in the fourth quarter. However, due to the uncertainties caused by the corona pandemic, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury does not make any further forecasts for the current year.
