Airbus woes drag down parent's profits

AIRBUS parent EADS said yesterday that a weaker United States dollar and major delays at its Airbus unit dragged its 2006 profit down and caused a multi-million euro quarterly loss.

The Amsterdam-based company's net profit last year fell 94 per cent to 99 million euros (S$200 million) and it warned that Airbus would 'display another substantial loss in 2007'.

EADS lost 768 million euros in the fourth quarter compared with a profit of 405 million euros a year earlier. Sales in the quarter, however, were up 11 per cent to 11.96 billion euros compared with 10.76 billion euros in 2005.

Airbus posted a fourth-quarter operating loss of 1.72 billion euros compared with a 453 million euros operating profit a year ago.

ASSOCIATED PRESS