Airbus axes its dividend, predicts flat deliveries

PARIS: European planemaker Airbus axed its dividend for a second year and predicted flat deliveries this year as it braces for more coronavirus uncertainty ater posting a 2020 loss.

The planemaker’s decision to restore key business targets is the latest evidence of recovery hopes being watched by financial markets following the pandemic, which severely hurt air travel.

Rival Boeing, mired in a separate crisis over the grounding of its 737 MAX that saw Airbus reclaim the title of largest global jetmaker, is not yet giving detailed views.

But analysts expressed concerns that the deliberately cautious delivery forecast from Airbus jarred with the same company’s plans to start unwinding cuts in jet production, albeit at a slower pace than initially planned. Shares in Airbus fell 3.4%.

Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said the forecast was for “at least” 566 deliveries, unchanged from last year when production was 40% below its peak. This will give investors some visibility in a world in which the pandemic seems to be geting worse in the short term, he said.

The actual level of deliveries will depend on demand from airlines rather than supply chains or funding, he added.

A collapse in demand from carriers worldwide has let almost 100 jets siting outside Airbus factories, down from a peak of around 145. But any shorfall in deliveries compared to factory production could drive the costly stockpile higher again.