EADS Q2 profits up 46 per cent, at $185.32 million

30 July 2008

Paris: Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. NV (EADS) said Wednesday that net Q2 profit went up 46 per cent as a result of cost savings and a "remarkable order intake." Net profits for the three months ending 30 June were up to 118 million euros ($185.32 million), as compared to 81 million euros a year ago.

Revenues increased 5 per cent, to 9.89 billion euros ($15.53 billion).

The European defence and aerospace giant did not change its outlook for revenues and earnings for the year, but expressed its optimism about enhanced aircraft orders. It revised its order expectation for Airbus saying that the aircraft manufacturer would land more than 850 orders in 2008, which was 150 more than it had predicted in May.

"Our order book is at a record level," EADS CEO Louis Gallois said in a statement. At the end of June, its order book was worth a record 354.2 billion euros ($556.27 billion).

The results omitted orders booked at the Farnborough International Air Show earlier this month, where Airbus swamped American rival, Boeing, with massive orders for 247 planes, worth a cumulative $38.7 billion at catalogue prices.

Discounting the deals that were already listed on its books before the start of the air show, Boeing's orders at Farnborough, which is considered to be the the world's biggest air show, drop to just $5.6 billion. Boeing claimed orders of 197 planes worth $23.1 billion at the show.