DALLAS — Airbus has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2024, which ended on March 31. The company reported strong performance amid ongoing geopolitical and supply chain tensions. 

Airbus delivered 142 commercial aircraft during this period. The CEO of Airbus, Guillaume Faury, highlighted the solid order intake and the decision to increase the production rate for the A350 to 12 aircraft per month in 2028.

Here are the key financial figures reported by Airbus for Q1 2024:

• Revenues: €12.8 billion
• EBIT Adjusted: €0.6 billion
• EBIT (reported): €0.6 billion
• EPS (reported): €0.76
• Free Cash Flow before customer financing: €-1.8 billion

Commercial Aircraft Orders, Deliveries

During the first quarter of 2024, Airbus received gross commercial aircraft orders totaling 170, with no cancellations, resulting in a net order of the same. 

By the end of March 2024, the order backlog for commercial aircraft stood at 8,626. Airbus delivered 142 commercial aircraft, including 12 A220s, 116 A320 Family, 7 A330s, and 7 A350s. This reflects an increase in deliveries compared to the same period in 2023 (127 aircraft).

Consolidated revenues for Airbus increased by 9% compared to Q1 2023, reaching €12.8 billion. The increase was primarily driven by higher revenues generated by Airbus' commercial aircraft activities, which saw a 13% growth due to the higher number of deliveries.

EBIT Adjusted and EBIT by Segment

Airbus' EBIT Adjusted, an alternative performance measure capturing the underlying business margin, was €577 million in Q1 2024, compared to €773 million in the same period last year.

The European manufacturer says this decrease is mainly attributed to the planned impact linked to the increased Airbus Employee Share Ownership Plan.

EBIT Adjusted for Airbus' commercial aircraft activities decreased to €507 million, primarily due to a slightly less favorable hedge rate and investments for future preparations.

Cash Flow, Financial Position, Outlook

Airbus reported a consolidated free cash flow before customer financing of €-1.8 billion, mainly due to the planned inventory build-up resulting from the execution of the ramp-up across programs. 

At the end of March 2024, the gross cash position was €23.4 billion, with a consolidated net cash position of €8.7 billion.

Airbus has maintained its guidance for 2024, assuming no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, supply chain, internal operations, and product and service deliveries. 

The company aims to achieve around 800 commercial aircraft deliveries in 2024. The projected EBIT Adjusted for the year is between €6.5 billion and €7.0 billion, with a targeted Free Cash Flow before customer financing of approximately €4.0 billion.

Featured image shows the A350-1041 aircraft with registration F-WMIL, from the largest variant of the A350 family.