Airbus orders on the rise

Manufacturing & Technology News, May 30, 2008

EADS, the maker of the Airbus civilian aircraft, is slowly turning itself around. The company had a record number of orders last year, 1,341 aircraft, which increased its backlog to 3,421 aircraft. In 2007, it made 453 Airbus deliveries to airlines around the world, up from 434 the year before.

The company is doing well with its Eurocopter, receiving 802 new orders, for a backlog of 1,388 units and making 488 deliveries last year.

The company's order book increased by 29 percent, from $263 billion at the end of 2006, to $339 billion at the end of 2007.

Total revenues were down last year by 1 percent to $39.1 billion (from $39.4 billion in 2006) and its EBIT rate sagged by 87 percent to 0.05. Net income in 2007 was a negative 446 million euro (negative 1.1 percent of revenue), down from a positive 99 million euro (0.3 percent of revenue) in 2006.