Airbus parent EADS sees Q4 earnings fall

BERLIN (AP) ? Airbus parent company EADS NV posted a 47 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit Wednesday after taking costly charges at its helicopter and defense electronics divisions.

The aerospace giant earned ?325 million ($425 million) in the October-December period, down from the previous year's ?612 million.

But full-year earnings were up 19 percent at ?1.23 billion from ?1.03 billion in 2011.

"There's still some way to go to meet our profitability targets," said chief executive Tom Enders.

Revenues rose 17 percent during the fourth quarter to ?19.22 billion, with the core Airbus division posting a 36 percent increase.

But EADS took a ?198 million hit during the quarter at its defense electronics contractor Cassidian, in part reflecting restructuring costs.

Renegotiating contracts with government customers resulted in a ?100 million charge at helicopter maker Eurocopter.

The company's core business, aircraft maker Airbus, posted a 36 percent increase in revenue during the final three months, rising to ?393 million from ?289 million in 2011. Of that, orders for civilian aircraft brought in ?309 million while military planes garnered ?85 million during the quarter.

Spaceflight division Astrium reported revenues of ?121 million, an increase of 19 percent from ?102 million in the same period the previous year.

EADS said it expects to sell more commercial aircraft ? about 700 ? in 2013. Revenues will grow modestly, it said, but results will be affected by problems with its A350 XWB model.

The A350, intended to challenge Boeing's 787 "Dreamliner," was delayed because of a problem with the plane's wings.

"The A350 XWB program remains challenging," EADS said in a statement. "Any schedule change could lead to increasingly higher impact on provisions."

The company said it is inviting shareholders to an extraordinary meeting March 27 to approve its new governance structure. EADS last year announced sweeping governance changes that will see influence by state shareholders France and Germany shrink.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/airbus-parent-eads-sees-q4-earnings-fall-075810861--finance.html

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