EADS profits take off

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Airbus parent group EADS this week saw its profits take off with a roar to match the maiden flight of its A380 superjumbo.

Airbus parent group EADS this week saw its profits take off with a roar to match the maiden flight of its A380 superjumbo.

The European aerospace and defence giant turned in pre-tax profits of e657m (£448m) in the first quarter of 2005, more than three times the figure for the same period last year. Sales were 16 per cent ahead at e7bn.

The earnings surge was driven by a strong performance from Airbus, which delivered 87 aircraft during the quarter, 20 more than at the equivalent stage in 2004.

EADS owns 80 per cent of Airbus, with the remaining fifth held by the UK’s BAE Systems.

The extra deliveries were mainly of A319 aircraft, but the company claimed that the recent first test flight of the A380 proved EADS will be in a strong position to take the fight to arch-rival Boeing for years to come. Its orders at the end of march stood at e141bn, including commitments from 15 customers to buy a total of 154 A380s.

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