Heavy penalties on Airbus imposed under the €3.6 billion deferred prosecution agreement, as well as other charges, have cut into the company’s full-year results, leading to its formally reporting a consolidated net loss of €1.36 billion.
The penalty is part of an overall €5.6 billion negative impact on the full-year figures which also include a €1.2 billion charge relating to the A400M military programme.
Airbus is also taking €200 million in charges over the terminated A380 programme and €221 million in relation to suspended defence export licences to Saudi Arabia by the German government.
The company’s consolidated EBIT figure fell from €5.05 billion in 2018 to €1.34 billion in 2019, and the net loss reached €1.36 billion.
For the fourth quarter Airbus turned in a net loss of €3.55 billion.
Commercial aircraft revenues for the year were up 14% to €54.8 billion and – although reported EBIT halved to €2.2 billion – adjusted EBIT was up 32% to €6.36 billion.
Despite the financial burden from the deferred prosecution agreement, relating to alleged corruption in the commercial and defence aircraft sales sector, the airframer is upbeat.
“We delivered a strong underlying financial performance driven mainly by our commercial aircraft deliveries,” says Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury.
“Our focus in 2020 will be on reinforcing our company culture, improving operationally, and adjusting our cost structure to strengthen the financial performance and prepare for the future.”
