Airbus profits plunge, blames scrapping of A380

Paris: European aerospace giant Airbus announced on Tuesday its net profit fell sharply in the first quarter, blaming in part its decision to stop building the loss-making A380 super-jumbo.

It said profits were down 86% from the same period in 2018 to 40 million euros ($45 million).

It blamed “adjustments” including 190 million euros for “the prolonged suspension of defence export licences to Saudi Arabia by the German government,” a further “83 million euros relating to the dollar pre-delivery payment mismatch and balance sheet revaluation” and “a negative 61 million euros related to A380 programme cost.”