EADS has confirmed that it is to restructure under the Airbus Group brand next year, into a company with three divisions covering commercial, defence and rotorcraft operations.
It disclosed the plan as Airbus posted first-half earnings of nearly €1.1 billion ($1.4 billion), a 95% increase on the previous year, on revenues of over €18 billion.
Airbus's gross order forecast has been raised to over 1,000 aircraft for the full year, with deliveries of 600-610 jets.
Restructuring of EADS will begin in January 2014 and will be completed in the second half of the year. But EADS says several approval procedures, including consultation with personnel, will need to be undertaken first.
Airbus, the greatest contributor to EADS's revenues, will remain as the brand for the commercial aircraft division. EADS chief Tom Enders says this recognises the "predominance" of the commercial sector in the group.
"The renaming simply gathers the entire company under the best brand we have, one that stands for internationalisation, innovation and integration," he adds.
Airbus Military - which builds the A400M transport - as well as the Astrium and Cassidian units, will be integrated into Airbus Defence & Space, based in Munich. This is to respond to the "changing market environment", particularly the "flat, or even shrinking" budgets in these sectors, says EADS.
The Eurocopter arm will be rebranded as Airbus Helicopters but will otherwise remain unchanged. "Rotorcraft technology is very particular and it's necessary to maintain the strong synergies between civil and military products," says EADS.
Enders says that the changes are "an evolution, not a revolution" and says the decision is a "logical step" in the development of the company.
He adds that the changes will "take costs out" from the defence and space activities and "improve our market position".
EADS posted a half-year increase of 6% in overall revenues, to €26 billion, with net income of €759 million, up 31%.
Airbus recorded earnings, before one-off charges, of €1.2 billion. The charges of €136 million included €28 million relating to A380 wing-rib bracket repairs and €108 million for pre-delivery payment dollar mismatch and "balance sheet revaluation", says the company.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
