Airbus trims A350 output amid larger-than-expected Q2 loss

[PARIS] Europe's Airbus said on Thursday it was further cutting production of its marquee A350 jet on Thursday as it swung to a larger-than-expected second-quarter loss in the face of global pandemic.

The planemaker also said it hoped to avoid consuming cash before mergers and acquisitions and customer financing in the second half of the year after a quarterly outflow of 4.4 billion euros (S$7.12 billion) as deliveries tumbled due to the coronavirus collapse in air travel.

Airbus posted an adjusted second-quarter operating loss of 1.226 billion euros as revenues slid 55 per cent to 8.317 billion euros. Analysts were expecting a loss of 1.027 billion euros on revenues of 8.552 billion euros, according to a company-compiled consensus.

The losses include 900 million euros of balance sheet impairment charges related to the industry's worst crisis.

Airbus said it had cut A350 production to five jets a month, after bringing the monthly rate down from 9.5 to six in April.

The move came a day after US rival Boeing said it was making further cuts in output of its 787 and 777 jets, which compete with the A350 on long-haul networks.

Airlines were already facing a glut of the industry's biggest jets before the Covid-19 crisis and those models are expected to be the slowest to recover once demand returns to normal levels, which Airbus says could take until 2023 or 2025.

REUTERS