Airbus hit by military plane issues
February 22, 2017
Airbus announced Wednesday its net earnings dropped by 63 percent to 995 million euros (1.05 billion) in 2016.
Adjusted operating income fell by 4 percent, while revenues were up 3 percent to 66.58 billion euros, the company said.
A last-minute surge in civil jetliner deliveries last year at least partly compensated for weaker helicopter and defense markets.
Problem child
The company reported for the first time as Airbus and with a new financial format after ditching the Airbus Group brand in a revamp that recognized the dominance of its civil business.
The firm's A400M military plane program kept weathering repeated industrial mishaps, including the recent discovery of problems in an engine gearbox built by an Italian subsidiary of General Motors.
Airbus signaled a downgrade in its expectations for exports of the aircraft, which so far has only one buyer - Malaysia, beyond a bloc of seven European NATO nations led by Germany.
Airbus said Wednesday it expected more than 700 jetliner deliveries in 2017, up from 688 in 2016.
hg/jd (Reuters, dpa)