Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has raised its full-year profit guidance based on a “strong performance” for the first nine months of the year.
It now expects earnings before tax to be €4.5 million, up from previous guidance of €4 million, and free cash flow of €2.5 billion, up from €2 billion – assuming no further disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, internal operations and its ability to deliver products and services.
For the nine months to the end of September, consolidated revenues increased 17% year-on-year to €35.2 billion, mainly reflecting the higher number of commercial aircraft deliveries.
A total of 424 commercial aircraft were delivered compared to 341 aircraft in the same period last year. It aims to deliver 600 by the end of 2021.
Revenues generated by Airbus’ commercial aircraft activities increased 21%, “largely reflecting the delivery performance compared to 2020 which was strongly impacted by Covid-19”, said the company.
Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury said: “The nine-month results reflect a strong performance across the company as well as our efforts on cost containment and competitiveness.
“As the global recovery continues, we are closely monitoring potential risks to our industry.
“We are focused on securing the A320 Family ramp up and striving to ensure the right industrial and supply chain capabilities are in place.
“Based on our nine-month performance, we have updated our 2021 earnings and cash guidance.”
For the third quarter, its operating profit was €666 million, down 19%. But this was better than the quarterly operating profit of €623 million average figure that analysts had forecast, according to Reuters.