Airbus shares fall amid Q1 earnings and A330 production cut plans

Airbus shares are trading lower Friday as the European aeroplane maker announced plans to reduce production of its A330 passenger jet in 2019. That news weighed on investor sentiment over the stock despite reporting better-than-expected Q1 profits.

By 1020 BST, Airbus shares were 0.21% lower at €95.30. The stock has been on a general downward trend this week after some gains earlier in the month.

A330 production plans

Amid its earning results and outlook press release, airbus stated its intentions regarding the planned production cuts of its A330 passenger jet.

“Based on the current programme assessment, Airbus has decided to reduce A330 deliveries to around 50 per year in 2019,” Airbus said.

There was no indication on the previous planned production numbers of the wide-body jet that seats some 250-300 passengers.

However, while demand for its larger, A330 jet may not be as strong as the company had previously anticipated, Airbus did say there remained significant demand and a healthy backlog of orders for its A320neo. Meanwhile, production of the firm’s A350 model is continuing to ramp-up to 10 per month.

Airbus earnings

The Airbus earnings report for the first three months of 2018, showed the plane maker reported €10.1 billion revenues, a 12% drop from the year earlier period.

And, the manufacturer reported an adjusted Q1 operating profit of €14 million. That was a better result than had been expected by analysts and also topped the €19 million loss reported in the year earlier period.

“The first quarter performance reflects the shortage of A320neo engines and back-loaded aircraft deliveries as we indicated in the full-year disclosure,” said Airbus CEO Tom Enders.

“It’s a challenging situation for all but based on the confidence expressed by the engine makers and their ability to deliver on commitments, we can confirm our full-year outlook. This still leaves us with plenty to do this year to reach the target of around 800 commercial aircraft deliveries,” Enders said.