EADS Facing Pressure Over A400M

November 19, 2009 by Matthew Potter · Comment
Filed under: BNET, Syndicated Industry News 
There are reports that France and Germany are discussing holding EADS, the parent of Airbus, to their contract for the A400M military transport....

EADS To Report Today

One of the two largest aerospace companies in the world will report its annual earnings tomorrow. EADS is supposed to report a profit, although it has the A400M program hanging over its head. The troubled military transport now over two years late may cause a massive charge to the 2008 earnings Bloomberg.com writes. The way the original contract is written any of the seven customers can cancel the aircraft in the near future. If this program fails it will be the second major blow to the company in three years following the A380 delays and the financial hardship that caused the company. EADS had restructured in in a bid to fix the issues with their premier military program. EADS is also waiting to hear about the KC-X contract in the U.S. A contract that it had won in partnership with Northrop Grumman that was overturned on a protest by Boeing. EADS’ earnings for 2008 will be interesting, as there was so much potential there for a recovery from the losses caused by the delays in the A380.

EADS Has Good Quarter

EADS announced that in the third quarter it was able to make a profit compared to the large losses last year. The Wall Street Journal has the story. Despite ongoing issues with two of its key programs – the A400 military transport and the A380 airliner – the company made about $800 M. The company found that its restructuring cost less then expected and cost reductions in the construction of its commercial aircraft also helped. Read more

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