Chris Jasper/MUNICH
The two major European Aeronautic, Defense and Space (EADS) partners have disclosed their income from Airbus Industrie operations for the first time - revealing that Aerospatiale Matra lags far behind DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) in terms of profitability.
The disparity in income, from a roughly equal workshare, suggests that the German Airbus operation is more efficient than that of France and could point to difficult times ahead for EADS as Aerospatiale Matra - until recently state-owned and with a bloated workforce - aims to emulate the standards of a fully private Dasa.
Both companies have a 37.9% holding in Airbus, yet Dasa says its operating profit from Airbus work was €300 million ($290 million) last year, up 50% on 1998's €200 million. The Aerospatiale Matra figure last year was €189 million.
Aerospatiale Matra manufactures the Airbus forward fuselage and cockpit, with most work concentrated in Toulouse and St. Nazaire, while Dasa's Hamburg and Bremen plants make the mid and rear fuselage, fin and flaps. The third EADS partner, Spain's CASA, makes stabilisers and fuselage parts, while BAE manufactures wings at Chester.
Aerospatiale Matra and Dasa are engaged in final assembly, although for the moment Hamburg assembles only A319s and A321s, with the A318 to be added from next year.
Workshare is not divided exactly according to shareholding, although on the A320 - for example - it is roughly equal, Dasa taking 34.6% and Aerospatiale 34%. The French share includes final assembly, which - significantly - many industry sources believe to be an unprofitable operation.
Aerospatiale Matra's 1999 Airbus operating profit nevertheless represented a big improvement on the previous year, when the figure was just €8 million. BAE has not yet broken out an operating profit for its Airbus division, but group finance director George Rose reports "improved profitability on wing-making work".
Aerospatiale Matra has a larger turnover than Dasa, but a smaller operating profit, while the French company's workforce numbers 56,500 against its partner's 46,000.
Manfred Bischoff, chairman of Dasa's supervisory board and co-chairman designate of EADS, acknowledges this gulf, but has some sympathy for Aerospatiale Matra. "The French have always carried a larger share in the development costs than the other partners, and this we have to respect," he says.
"EADS will have to look at that in the future, because maybe they have done more in the development phase. Development they have done is very labour intensive."
Dasa took a hit of €62 million in 1999 as its share of the loss borne by the Airbus GIE, which is responsible for marketing and selling aircraft. The figure corresponds to less than 38% of the total, since Dasa took a disproportionately large share in 1998.
The German company says the GIE loss totalled $194 million, significantly less than the $330 million quoted by BAE, which included other costs. GIE revenues advanced last year to €15 billion from €12 billion.
Source: Flight International
