This fall follows difficulties in delivering aircraft and in the space division which forced Airbus to lower its financial outlook for 2024.
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus fell nearly 9% in early trading on Tuesday on the Paris Stock Exchange, after reporting difficulties for its aircraft deliveries and its space division which forced it to lower its financial outlook for 2024 Airbus, the sixth largest company in the CAC 40 where it was worth more than 115 billion euros on Monday, lost around 7:30 GMT to 135.42 euros, in a market down 0.52%.
At the opening, the stock plunged more than 9%, its worst fall since March 2022, which erased all its gains since the start of the year. It also dragged down the engine manufacturer Safran, which lost more than 4%. The European aircraft manufacturer indicated Monday evening that it would not be able to respect the roadmap set at the start of the year: it plans to deliver only 770 planes, compared to 800 previously announced, due to persistent difficulties in its chain of suppliers.
It also announced a new provision of 900 million euros in the first half, linked to “certain space telecommunications, navigation and observation programs”. All of this will reduce its profit: Airbus, which forecast an adjusted operating profit for 2024 included “between 6.5 and 7.0 billion euros”only expects 5.5 billion euros.
“This warning” is astonishing, emphasize Deutsche Bank analysts, who no longer recommend buying the stock. “The dust has to settle before we can get positive again.” Airbus “faces more challenges than expected”, summarizes Chloe Lemarie, analyst at Jefferies. The announcement is a “headwind” has “the credibility of management in the space market”explain RBC analysts in a note.
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In the space sector, the manufacturer had already had to spend a charge of 600 million euros last year due to the estimation of the development cost and the commercial prospects of certain programs, in particular the new Onesat geostationary telecommunications satellites. . Last year, Airbus’ space activity represented around 2 billion euros in turnover out of the 65.4 billion generated by the group. Airbus will present its half-year results on July 30.
