Airbus sets quarterly cash goal, takes heavy restructuring charge

Airbus said on Thursday it expected to reach cash breakeven in Q4, giving investors the first glimpse of future performance since the start of the coronavirus crisis after halting the bleeding of cash in Q3. The planemaker, which is slashing jobs to cope with collapsing air travel demand, also took a E1.2b restructuring charge that drove it to a loss despite better-than-expected underlying operating profit. Underlying or adjusted operating profit of E820m marked a 49% drop from the same period last year, while revenues fell 27% to E11.2b. Analysts were expecting quarterly adjusted operating profit of E708m on revenues of 11.439b, according to a company-compiled consensus. Airbus said it had contained cash outflows in Q3 as it narrowed a gap between production and deliveries to airlines, which had slumped at the outset of the crisis. However, the announcement came as France and Germany, where Airbus has its main factories, announced new restrictions to try to contain a resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic. Airbus has been saddled with a backlog of some 145 aircraft that airlines have postponed absorbing into their fleets as they struggle to survive the crisis. It said that this overhang of undelivered jets had shrunk to 135 planes by end-September. The company has shored up deliveries partly by striking storage agreements with airlines unable to put jets directly into service. But some industry sources said a new lockdown in France raised new questions about its ability to deliver jets.<br/>