Airbus flies back into black in first quarter

PARIS — European aircraft manufacturer Airbus flew back into the black in the first three months of the current year as cost-cutting and restructuring measures began to pay off, but the group warned that the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic was not yet over.

Airbus said in a statement that it booked bottom-line net profit of 362 million euros ($440 million) in the period from January to March, compared with a loss of 481 million euros a year earlier.

First-quarter revenues were stable at 10.5 billion euros.

"The good Q1 results mainly reflect our commercial aircraft delivery performance, cost and cash containment, progress with the restructuring plan as well as positive contributions from our helicopter and defence and space activities," said chief executive Guillaume Faury.

However, "the first quarter shows that the crisis is not yet over for our industry, and that the market remains uncertain."

Airbus said it had delivered a total of 125 commercial aircraft in the three-month period, up from 122 a year earlier, including nine A220s, 105 A320 family, one A330 and 10 A350s.

Looking ahead, the aircraft maker said it was sticking to its previous forecasts for stable aircraft deliveries of 566 for 2021 as a whole - the same number as in 2020 - and underlying operating profit of two billion euros.