Amsterdam,
December
21, 2004
EADS is currently receiving a strong flow of commercial aircraft and defence orders enabling the group to once again book orders this year in excess of revenues which are expected to be approximately € 32 billion.
In December alone, Airbus announced orders from Lufthansa, Kingfisher Airlines, Air Hong Kong, Air Asia, the Latin American airline TACA, Vietnam Airlines and China Aviation Supplies Import & Export Group Corporation (CASGC).
"We are very proud that all of these airlines made their choice in favour of Airbus and in particular the A320 or A340 family", stated EADS CEOs Philippe Camus and Rainer Hertrich. "2004 has so far been a very successful year for EADS and Airbus, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, and we expect more Airbus orders to be announced before the end of the year."
The recent landmark contract wins by the group's defence business, Eurofighter Tranche 2 as well as the A330 MRTT refuelling aircraft for the Australian forces, reinforce the growing contribution from the defence business to the EADS order book by approximately € 3.9 billion and € 800 million respectively.
EADS announced last week that it expects overruns of € 1.45 billion in total non-recurring costs to completion of the A380 programme, inclusive of the A380 freighter due to be delivered in 2008. The amount of € 1.45 billion is the most recent estimate presented by Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard to the EADS Board of Directors following the full review of the A380 programme. The review also concluded that recurring costs are expected to be slightly better than originally anticipated in the A380 launch business case. It was confirmed that an Internal Rate of Return of close to 20 percent (€1 for $1.12) is expected.
The impact of these cost overruns on the group’s 2005 to 2007 operative planning is reflected in the 2005 guidance issued on December 10th 2004. EADS had announced in November that it expected self-financed Airbus R&D expenses to remain stable at the 2004 level in coming years. It currently plans Airbus R&D to be € 1.85 billion in 2005 and slightly less in each of 2006 and 2007, including development costs for the A350 and all programmes authorised to date.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2003, EADS generated revenues of € 30.1 billion. The EADS Group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the world's largest helicopter supplier Eurocopter and the joint venture MBDA, the second largest missile producer in the global market. EADS is the major partner in the Eurofighter consortium, is the prime contractor for the Ariane launcher, develops the A400M military transport aircraft and is the largest industrial partner for the European satellite navigation system Galileo.
