Airbus thrives after becoming ‘normal’

Aeroplane manufacturer Airbus, the pan-European giant with more than 17,000 employees in the UK, has hailed its transition to a “normal company” after axing a horrifically complicated political ownership structure.

Chief executive Tom Enders was thwarted by German chancellor Angela Merkel in his attempt to create a European aerospace and defence empire when she vetoed plans to merge with Britain’s BAE Systems in 2012. He responded by restructuring the state-dominated share structure, lessening French and German influence, and changingthe group’s name from Eads to Airbus, the aircraft for which the company is famous.

The changes did not hurt the group in the eyes of customers, with profits soaring 22% to 1.5 billion (£824.2 million) in the 2013 results announced today. Revenue was up 5% to 59.3 billion on the back of 626 aeroplane deliveries, and Airbus set an industry best of 1619 commercial orders. Emirates Airline also firmed up an order for 50 extra A380s — the world’s biggest passenger jet — at the Dubai Airshow near the end of last year.

Enders pledged that the group will focus on “execution, execution and execution” and Airbus will raise production of its A320 single-aisle aircraft from 42 to 46 a month by the second quarter of 2016.

Free cashflow was minus- 818 million but that is 600 million to 700 million better than Société Générale analysts expected.