EADS is counting on the effects of its new management structure and Airbus restructuring efforts to spark performance improvements after it posted a weak set of results for the first half of 2007.
The company's Airbus woes were compounded by a €105 million ($143 million) charge associated with the NH90 helicopter programme.
The combination of factors led to it recording earnings before interest and tax of just €367 million, compared with €1.7 billion for the first half of 2006.
Sales dipped only slightly, reaching €18.5 billion, compared with €19 billion last year, "supported by strong commercial deliveries at Airbus, Eurocopter and EADS Astrium."
Chief executives Tom Enders and Louis Gallois say that in their new roles, part of a "leaner structure" that will see Gallois becoming sole chief executive of EADS and Enders head of Airbus - they will focus on "turning our vast orderbook into profits, which entails heightened focus on robust programme management".
The weak US dollar, one of the principal catalysts for Airbus's Power8 restructuring plan, also hit EADS's order book. It grew to €308 billion as of the end of June, from €263 billion at the end of 2006, but without the effects of the weak dollar it would have been €5.4 billion higher.
The group is forecasting earnings for 2007 as a whole consistent with last year's level of €400 million, while revenues are expected to decrease by a "low single digit percentage". These forecasts are based on delivery of between 440 and 450 Airbus aircraft.
Source: Flight International
