Airbus announces financial results for 2023

Airbus SE has just reported consolidated Full-Year (FY) 2023 financial results and provided guidance for 2024.

“In 2023 we recorded strong order intake across all our businesses and we delivered on our commitments. This was a significant achievement given the complexity of the operating environment,” said Guillaume Faury, Airbus Chief Executive Officer. “We will continue to invest in our global industrial system, while progressing on our transformation and decarbonisation journey. Our dividend proposals are a reflection of the strong 2023 financials, our growth prospects in 2024 and balance sheet strength.”

Gross commercial aircraft orders totalled 2,319 (2022: 1,078 aircraft) with net orders of 2,094 aircraft after cancellations (2022: 820 aircraft). The order backlog amounted to 8,598 commercial aircraft at the end of 2023. Airbus Helicopters registered 393 net orders (2022: 362 units), which were well spread across programmes and corresponds to a book-to-bill ratio above 1 both in units and value. Airbus Defence and Space’s order intake by value increased 15 percent to € 15.7 billion (2022: € 13.7 billion), corresponding to a book-to-bill of around 1.4 by value. Fourth quarter orders included 16 C295 aircraft for Spain.

Consolidated order intake by value increased to € 186.5 billion (2022: € 82.5 billion) with the consolidated order book valued at € 554 billion at the end of 2023 (year-end 2022: € 449 billion). The increase in the consolidated backlog value mainly reflects the Company-wide book-to-bill of well above 1, partly offset by the weakening of the US dollar.

Consolidated revenues increased 11 percent year-on-year to € 65.4 billion (2022: € 58.8 billion). A total of 735 commercial aircraft were delivered (2022: 661⁽¹⁾ aircraft), comprising 68 A220s, 571 A320 Family, 32 A330s and 64 A350s. Revenues generated by Airbus’ commercial aircraft activities increased 15 percent, mainly reflecting the higher number of deliveries. Airbus Helicopters’ deliveries were stable at 346 units (2022: 344 units) with revenues rising 4 percent, reflecting the overall performance across programmes and services. Revenues at Airbus Defence and Space increased 2 percent, mainly driven by Military Air Systems and Connected Intelligence, offset by some updated Estimates at Completion of certain Space programmes. A total of 8 A400M military airlifters were delivered (2022: 10 aircraft).

Consolidated EBIT Adjusted – an alternative performance measure and key indicator capturing the underlying business margin by excluding material charges or profits caused by movements in provisions related to programmes, restructuring or foreign exchange impacts as well as capital gains/losses from the disposal and acquisition of businesses – was € 5,838 million (2022: € 5,627 million).

EBIT Adjusted related to Airbus’ commercial aircraft activities increased to € 4,818 million (2022: € 4,600 million), reflecting the higher deliveries and a more favourable hedge rate, partially offset by investments for preparing the future. FY 2022 included the non-recurring positive impacts from retirement obligations and compliance-related topics partly offset by the impact resulting from international sanctions against Russia, while in H1 2023 provisions were released for € 0.1 billion from compliance-related topics.

The A220 ramp-up continues towards a monthly production rate of 14 aircraft in 2026, with a focus on the programme’s industrial maturity and financial performance. On the A320 Family programme, production is progressing well towards the previously announced rate of 75 aircraft per month in 2026. In 2023, construction of the second A320 Final Assembly capacities in Tianjin (China) and Mobile (US) commenced and the new A320 Family Final Assembly Line in Toulouse delivered its first aircraft in December. The first customer A321XLR entered into the Final Assembly Line in December, with entry-into-service for the aircraft type expected to take place in Q3 2024.

On widebody aircraft, the Company continues towards a monthly rate of 4 aircraft for the A330 in 2024 and rate 10 in 2026 for the A350.

Airbus Helicopters’ EBIT Adjusted increased to € 735 million (2022: € 639 million), reflecting the strong performance across programmes and services. FY 2022 also included net positive non-recurring elements.

EBIT Adjusted at Airbus Defence and Space decreased to € 229 million (2022: € 384 million).
The decrease reflects € 0.6 billion charges resulting from the update of Estimates at Completion of certain Space programmes, partially mitigated by the performance of the rest of the business. FY 2022 included some non-recurring elements, notably from the loss of two Pleiades Neo satellites.

On the A400M programme, development activities continue towards achieving the revised capability roadmap. Retrofit activities are progressing in close alignment with the customer. In 2023, an additional update of the contract estimate at completion has been performed and a net charge of € 41 million recorded. Risks remain on the qualification of technical capabilities and associated costs, on aircraft operational reliability, on cost reductions and on securing overall volume as per the revised baseline.

Consolidated self-financed R&D expenses totalled € 3,257 million (2022: € 3,079 million).

Consolidated EBIT (reported) amounted to € 4,603 million (2022: € 5,325 million), including net Adjustments of € -1,235 million.

These Adjustments comprised:

The financial result was € 166 million (2022: € -250 million). It mainly reflects a positive impact from the revaluation of certain equity investments. Consolidated net income⁽²⁾ was € 3,789 million (2022: € 4,247 million) with consolidated reported earnings per share of € 4.80 (2022: € 5.40).

Consolidated free cash flow before M&A and customer financing was € 4,386 million (2022: € 4,680 million), mainly reflecting the level of commercial aircraft deliveries as well as the strong performance in all businesses. Consolidated free cash flow of € 3,885 million (2022: € 4,324 million) included € -65 million for M&A activities and € -436 million of customer financing, mostly related to the planned execution of certain contractual obligations. The gross cash position stood at € 25.3 billion at the end of 2023 (year-end 2022: € 23.6 billion), with a consolidated net cash position of € 10.7 billion (year-end 2022: € 9.4 billion).

The Board of Directors will propose the payment of a 2023 dividend of € 1.80 per share (2022: € 1.80 per share) and a special dividend of € 1.00 per share to the 2024 Annual General Meeting taking place on 10 April 2024. The proposed payment date is 18 April 2024.

Outlook

As the basis for its 2024 guidance, the Company assumes no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the Company’s internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services.

The Company’s 2024 guidance is before M&A.

On that basis, the Company targets to achieve in 2024: