Airbus records huge surge in profits despite technical issues

PROFITS at Airbus have nearly tripled despite the group stomaching a £1.2bn charge over its problemfihit A400M military plane.

Annual net profit soared to £2.5bn in 2017, up from £883m the year before, thanks to “strong deliveries”, swelling orders and favourable currency translations.

However, the A400M continued to be the thorn in the side of the aerospace giant, as it took a financial hit from efforts to iron out technical and delivery issues.

Chief executive Tom Enders said: “We overachieved on all our 2017 KPIs thanks to a very good operational performance, especially in the last quarter. Despite persistent engine issues on the A320neo, we continued the production rampfiup and finally delivered a record number of aircraft.

“On A400M, we made progress on the industrial and capabilities front and agreed a refibaselining with government customers which will significantly reduce the remaining programme risks.”

Revenues were little moved, lifting £178m to £59.3bn. Rising deliveries and improved exchange rates helped earning for commercial aircraft reach £3.2bn, up from £2.5bn in 2016.

Adjusted earnings climbed 8% to £3.8bn over the period. The group expects adjusted earnings to jump by a fifth in 2018, as it aims to deliver 800 commercial aircraft.