Airbus turns itself in to US authorities over filing 'inaccuracies'
Airbus Group N.V.
€154.76
10:14 26/04/24
European aeroplane giant Airbus has discovered "inaccuracies" in its filings on arms trafficking, which US authorities are now investigating.
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8,029.54
10:14 26/04/24
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23:59 25/04/24
Having also turned itself in to the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and France's Parquet National Financier (PNF) over possible corruption, the French-headquartered group carried out a review of its US regulatory compliance procedures.
"Airbus has discovered and subsequently informed relevant US authorities of its findings concerning certain inaccuracies in filings made with the US Department of State pursuant to Part 130 of the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)," it said, with Part 130 of the regulations relating to the use of agents and how commissions are paid.
Otherwise, the third quarter saw a healthy commercial aircraft market, although order intake of €50.8bn in the first nine months of the year so far is well down on the €73.2bn at this point last year.
“We confirm our outlook even though this year’s delivery schedule is extremely back-loaded, largely due to the well-known engine problems plaguing our A320neo family,” said chief executive Tom Enders.
Nine-month revenues of €43bn are slightly ahead of last year, while adjusted EBIT of €1.8bn is down on the €2.4bn in 2016 and reported earnings per share of €2.39 is roughly flat versus €2.34 last time.
Enders said a strong order backlog and a healthy market environment continued to support commercial aircraft production ramp-up plans, which for the A350 programme "well on track" to meet the monthly production target rate of 10 aircraft by the end of 2018.
On the A320neo programme, 90 aircraft were delivered to 19 customers, though the A320neo ramp-up has been challenging and deliveries loaded heavily into the fourth quarter, though October saw a successful maiden flight.
"Priority is being given to engine deliveries to customers to be used for spares, as agreed with the engine manufacturers," Airbus said.
At the beginning of 2017, it expected to deliver around 200 A320neo over the year but due to engine availability issues and allocation between the OEM and spare pools, A320neo deliveries are now expected to be "slightly below" that target.