EADS, Europe's largest aerospace company, swung to a larger-than-expected net profit in 2003 as a strong fourth quarter at its Airbus plane-making unit and a drop in charges offset losses in its space division, the company said on Monday.
EADS, which makes commercial jets, missiles and fighter aircraft, also cheered investors by announcing a 10 cent increase in its 2003 net dividend to 40 euro cents per share.
In its fourth set of annual results since it was formed in 2000 from a merger of France, Germany and Spain's largest aerospace firms, EADS posted a net profit of 152 million euros ($185.4 million), up from a loss of 299 million in 2002, when results were penalised by 936 million euros in goodwill charges.
Closely watched operating profit, or earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), rose eight percent to 1.543 billion euros, above the company's own target of 1.4 billion and a consensus forecast for 1.434 billion euros.
EADS, which has dual headquarters in Paris and Munich, increased its forecast for 2004 EBIT to 1.8 billion euros from 1.7 billion. That increase, however, was due to the adoption of IFRS accounting rules, which will change the way the company capitalises development costs.
"We are now at a turning point indicating stronger growth over the medium term," joint Chief Executives Philippe Camus and Rainer Hertrich said in a statement.
Airbus, which generates close to 90 percent of EADS operating profit, delivered more planes in 2003 than its US arch-rival Boeing for the first time in their three decades of fierce competition.
In contrast with Boeing, which cut back sharply on aircraft production and laid off thousands of workers following the September 11 attacks in the United States, Airbus has weathered a sharp downturn in the civil aerospace market relatively well.
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