EADS posts loss on Airbus orders

EADS, the marker of the Eurocopter, posts loss as new orders for Airbus decline

PARIS, France (CNN) -- European aerospace group EADS said new orders for its Airbus civil aircraft collapsed amid a global crisis in the air transport industry.

The European Aeronautics, Defence and Space Company said on Friday new orders plunged 80 percent to 3.4 billion euros, while Airbus new orders dropped 93 percent to 1.26 billion euros. But it said it was sticking to its forecast that 2002 sales would match last year's level.

Aircraft orders have virtually dried up since the September 11 attacks on the United States. Airbus slashed its forecast for sales by a quarter this year as many airlines scrapped plans for new orders.

Though the industry is struggling with losses, many airlines have seen passenger numbers pick up and are managing to fill planes.

Airbus delivered 325 planes in 2001 and expected before September 11 to ramp up production beyond 400 a year. The company has lowered its forecasts to 300 deliveries of aircraft this year

EADS, which owns 80 percent of commercial jet maker Airbus, saw sales edge up 2 percent to 6.4 billion euros in the first quarter of 2002.

In the first three months of this year, the company registered a net loss of 25 million euros, compared with a profit of 1.7 billion euros in the 2001 quarter. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 2 percent to 315 million euros.

But the first quarter EBIT number was faltered by the sale of assets.

Europe's biggest aerospace company, the maker of the Eurocopter and commercial satellite launcher Arianespace, said EBIT for 2002 will come in at 1.2 billion euros.

"We still believe that the dismal state of the airline industry and a huge surplus of aircraft will lead to lower sales than Airbus expects next year and the year after," Nick Cunningham of Schroder Salomon Smith Barney told Reuters.

EADS's stock slipped half a percent to 17.89 euros in midday Paris trading on Friday, after hitting an eight-month high of 18.32 euros earlier in the session. The stock hit a low of 9.14 euros after the September 11 attacks.

Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard said last week that he was more optimistic about the strength of 2003 aircraft deliveries and confirmed estimates for 300 deliveries this year.