Leonardo appears close to securing a substantial increase in the rate it receives from Boeing for aerostructures work on the 787 programme.
Detailing the Italian aerospace firm’s preliminary full-year results on 29 February, chief executive Roberto Cingolani said negotiations with the US airframer were progressing. Leonardo had announced its intention to pursue a price rise in November last year.
Cingolani expects a rate increase of around 10% to be obtained, although declines to offer additional detail, save to add that the talks are “going in the right direction”. Any increase achieved will be applied from 2025, he adds.
However, the new rate revision is separate to a price rise already contained in Leonardo’s contract with Boeing which will kick in from shipset 1,406.
Leonardo last year delivered 39 centre fuselage sections and 32 horizontal stabilisers for the 787, putting it around 300 units shy of the contractual improvement figure. The parts are built at sites in Grottaglie and Foggia, respectively.
Meanwhile, Leonardo’s aerostructures division continues to make progress towards its target of achieving break-even by 2025.
Aided by returning demand from its big customers Airbus and Boeing, and from its ATR regional turboprop joint venture with Airbus, revenues rose to €636 million ($690 million) from €435 million the year before.
Crucially, EBITA losses also narrowed to €151 million from €189 million in 2022.
“Improvement in EBITA is mainly attributable to the increase in the [utilisation] of industrial assets (in particular Grottaglie) and the workforce with consequent recovery of profitability,” it says.
At group level, revenues grew 3.9% to €15.2 billion, up from €14.7 billion the year before, aided by strong contributions of €4.7 billion and €7.4 billion from the company’s helicopters and defence electronics businesses, respectively.
Group EBITA stood at €1.29 billion, up 5.8% on the €1.21 billion booked the previous year.
Leonardo will on 12 March present its next multi-year industrial plan.
