Airbus plans special dividend, takes new space charge

FILE PHOTO: Logos of Airbus are seen at the Milipol Paris, the worldwide exhibition dedicated to homeland security and safety, in Villepinte near Paris, France, November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) -Europe’s Airbus unveiled a special dividend on Thursday after posting higher 2023 results, buoyed by record airplane orders and higher deliveries but dampened by a fresh charge of 200 million euros ($214.62 million) in its troubled Space unit.

The world’s largest commercial planemaker said core adjusted operating profit rose 4% to 5.8 billion euros as revenue rose 11% to 65.4 billion, and predicted core profit of 6.5 to 7.0 billion euros in 2024.

Airbus proposed an unchanged regular dividend of 1.8 euros a share, and added a special dividend of 1 euro per share as net cash topped the 10-billion-euro threshold previously identified as a potential trigger for returning cash to shareholders.

Airbus is riding a wave of orders from airlines coping with a rebound in travel demand from the pandemic, helping it to build up cash reserves in contrast with U.S. rival Boeing which is mired in debts stemming from a series of crises.

Airbus, as expected, forecast around 800 jet deliveries for 2024 but announced a further delay in entry to service of its A321XLR single-aisle jet to the third quarter from the second. The first customer airplane entered final assembly in December.

The company’s forecasts are subject to no further disruption to tight global supply chains or the world economy.

The Space unit charge brings the total written off in that segment last year to 600 million euros and comes a day after Reuters reported that CEO Guillaume Faury had told staff that large, unexpected charges in the business were “not acceptable”.

Space Systems chief Jean-Marc Nasr is leaving his position from next month, with Faury telling him in a recent internal memo that “it is what it is,” Reuters reported on Wednesday. Nasr could not be reached for comment.

The charges helped push divisional Defence and Space profits down 40% to 229 million euros while Helicopters rose 15%.

Airbus is among European companies facing fierce competition from U.S. launchers and a new generation of low-cost satellites.

Faury, however, told staff in a letter last month that Airbus is better off with a high-performing Defence and Space business than without a presence in those areas.

($1 = 0.9319 euros)

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)