Airbus ups forecasts after big H1 but cautious on virus

Europe's Airbus doubled its full-year profit forecast and raised the outlook for jet deliveries after posting better-than-expected half-year results, pushing its shares to the highest level since the start of the coronavirus crisis. The world's largest planemaker said it was benefiting from the beginnings of a recovery in air travel demand, but cautioned that uneven global vaccination rates and the spreading Delta variant of COVID-19 left uncertainty over the recovery. Airbus said it expected to deliver 600 aircraft in 2021, up from a previous target of at least 566, and doubled its forecast for operating income to E4b while predicting E2b of free cashflow. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Airbus would deliver more than 600 jets this year after negotiating workarounds with cash-strapped airlines, including deals that allow some to delay accounting for new planes on their balance sheets. "COVID-19 is not over," CEGuillaume Faury said Thursday. "Levels of vaccinations are very diverse around the world and we cannot exclude that after the Delta variant there will be another one, so we believe we have to remain very prudent," he said, adding: "It is going to a bumpy road in terms of recovery." Even so, shares in the Paris-listed heavyweight rose as much as 4.9%, helping to propel European shares to record highs.<br/>