Aerospace giant Airbus reported a 1.1bn full-year loss and withheld its dividend on Thursday after plane deliveries fell by more than a third due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company said it hoped to hold deliveries at the same level as last year’s 566 passenger jets as revenues at its commercial aircraft arm slumped 37% to 34.2bn.
Airbus said that after 115 cancellations of jets by airlines, it took a net 268 orders for new aircraft, down from 768 in 2020 as the pandemic triggered a collapse in air travel.
Group sales, which includes the defence and space division, fell 29% to 49.9bn, resulting in a consolidated net loss of 1.1bn compared with a 1.36bn loss a year earlier.
Airbus swung to an operating loss of 510m from a profit of 1.3bn as charges booked in previous quarters, for restructuring and the closure of the loss-making A380 programme hit the bottom line.
The company said it expected to deliver the same number of commercial aircraft in 2021 as last year and targeted an adjusted operating profit of 2bn, assuming no further disruptions to the global economy and aviation.
The overall backlog of orders fell by 21% to 373bn, which includes almost 7,200 airliners as consolidated order intake by value decreased to 33.3bn from 81.2bn. Airbus delivered 566 commercial aircraft in the 12 months to the December 31, down from 863 aircraft in the same period a year earlier.
“Many uncertainties remain for our industry in 2021 as the pandemic continues to impact lives, economies and societies,” said chief executive Guillaume Faury.
