Airbus Helicopters’ revenue falls 9% on lower deliveries

Airbus Helicopters revenue fell by 9% year-over-year to €1.5bn compared with €1.6bn in the same period last year owing to lower deliveries of 50 units during 1Q24 versus 71 last year.

“We delivered first quarter 2024 results against the backdrop of an operating environment that shows no sign of improvement. Geopolitical and supply chain tensions continue,” said Guillaume Faury, CEO, Airbus.

Lower revenue translated into lower adjusted EBIT which clocked in at €71m compared with €156m in the same period last year.

However, despite lower deliveries and adjusted EBIT, the company’s order intake grew by 62% to 63 from 40 in the corresponding period of 2023.

At the group level, Airbus reported consolidated revenues of €12.8bn in the first quarter, an 8% increase from €11.8bn in 1Q 2023. The company delivered a total of 142 commercial aircraft in the first quarter. This included 12 A220s, 116 A320 Family aircraft, 7 A330s, and 7 A350s.

“We started 2024 with a solid order intake across our businesses. The strong momentum on widebody aircraft underpins our decision to increase the production rate for the A350 to 12 aircraft a month in 2028. Our ramp up plans are continuing, supported by the investments in our production system while relying on our core pillars of safety, quality, integrity, compliance and security,” added Faury.

Airbus’ consolidated free cash flow during the quarter stood at -€1.8bn, compared with -€0.9bn from a year ago.