(News Bulletin 247) – The aeronautics group delivered 53 aircraft in the fifth month of the year, down both from April and the same month of 2023. If the company was penalized by extended public holidays on the months, analysts are somewhat wondering.

Airbus is stuck on the Paris Stock Exchange this Friday. The aeronautical group fell by 1.8% around 4:30 p.m., in a market that was admittedly a little difficult, with the CAC 40 losing 0.3% at the same time.

The former EADS published its aircraft deliveries for the month of May on Thursday evening. The figure appears quite dull, with 53 units, less than in April (61 units) or in the same month of 2023 (63 devices).

Remember that aircraft deliveries constitute an indicator closely followed by the market and analysts, because the bulk of the payment for an aircraft occurs when it is received in due form by the airline or lessor who purchased it. ordered, even if deposits are paid when signing the contract. The evolution of deliveries therefore makes it possible to determine whether Airbus will generate more or less cash.

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Public holidays which penalized production

Airbus had to deal with a month of May 2024 marked by numerous public holidays, which thus weighed on production, particularly in France.

The lower delivery figure for May “could be the consequence of a series of extended public holidays during the month which likely disrupted delivery processes”, considers Deutsche Bank.

“It is therefore too early to draw conclusions, but the next few months will be decisive in reaching 800 deliveries in the year (the Airbus objective, Editor’s note). Deliveries in 2024 should be heavily concentrated at the end of the year , with perhaps 130-140 aircraft deliveries for the month of December alone We now estimate 805 (compared to 807 previously) deliveries for the 2024 financial year,” explains the German establishment.

Jefferies considers that the 53 deliveries for the month constitute a “setback” for the company. “Although the month was penalized by a low number of working days, Airbus still has a significant gap to make up to achieve stable year-on-year deliveries in the second quarter,” underlines the bank.

“With recent comments flagging supply chain challenges, at this stage we do not expect significant year-over-year growth in deliveries in June,” she adds. Jefferies also reports that with this level of 2023 deliveries difficult to exceed in June (70), the group’s operating profit in the second quarter will not be helped by volumes and will be mainly affected by the impact of increases in staff, quantified to 8,600 over the quarter by the bank.

“Airbus continues to face pressures on its supply chain and the pace of growth in deliveries continues to be lower than the ideal scenario for investors,” notes Royal Bank of Canada.

The Canadian bank is, however, confident about achieving the annual objective. “We still believe Airbus is on track to meet its FY2024 target of around 800 deliveries, but will likely need a stronger second half than expected (investors’ expectations) to reach its objective,” she writes.