ELITE FLYING: 18-seat Airbus corporate jet comes complete with eight beds.
European aerospace group EADS reported a small net loss for the first quarter after taking another big charge to help struggling aircraft maker Airbus and vowed not to abandon its "inevitable" restructuring.
The group, whose profits slumped 94 percent last year on the back of a weak dollar and industrial problems at Airbus, posted a net loss of €10 million in the first three months of the year, down from €522 million in the same quarter of 2006.
Unions are contesting Airbus's plans to cut 10,000 jobs and sell or spin off factories to save cash following a traumatic year of production delays to the A380 superjumbo.
EADS earnings before interest and tax in the quarter dropped to €89 million from €791 million a year ago, after a €688 million provision at the planemaker as part of its restructuring programme.
Group sales dipped to €9 billion from €9.1 billion.
Airbus has also been hit by faltering attempts to counter the market success of Boeing's mid-sized 787 Dreamliner with its future A350, which had to be redesigned at significant cost.
The plane is due five years behind its Boeing rival in 2013, leaving billions of dollars of deals to Boeing.
- (Reuters)
