Airbus doubles operating profit in first half of 2019

Airbus has reported that commercial aircraft orders totalled 213 (H1 2018: 261 aircraft) with net orders of 88 aircraft (H1 2018: 206 aircraft). The order book stood at 7,276 commercial aircraft as of June 30, 2019. Net helicopter orders of 123 units (H1 2018: 143 units) included 23 NH90s for Spain and 11 H145s in the second quarter. Airbus Defence and Space’s order intake by value totalled €4.2 billion, with second quarter bookings including the A400M Global Support Step 2 contract with OCCAR and next generation geostationary Ka-band communications satellites.

Consolidated revenues increased to €30.9 billion (H1 2018: € 25.0 billion), mainly reflecting higher commercial aircraft deliveries and favourable foreign exchange. At Airbus, a total of 389 commercial aircraft were delivered (H1 2018: 303 aircraft), comprising 21 A220s, 294 A320 Family, 17 A330s, 53 A350s and 4 A380s. Airbus Helicopters delivered 143 units (H1 2018: 141 units) with stable revenues driven by programme phasing compensated by growth in services. Higher revenues at Airbus Defence and Space were supported by Military Aircraft activities.

Consolidated EBIT Adjusted – an alternative performance measure and key indicator capturing the underlying business margin by excluding material charges or profits caused by movements in provisions related to programmes, restructurings or foreign exchange impacts as well as capital gains/losses from the disposal and acquisition of businesses – more than doubled to €2,529 million (H1 2018: €1,162 million), driven by commercial aircraft activities at Airbus.

Airbus’ EBIT Adjusted increased to €2,338 million (H1 2018: €867 million), mainly reflecting the A320 ramp-up and NEO premium, further progress on the A350 financial performance and an improvement in foreign exchange rates in the second quarter.