Airbus parent reports loss of €446m

European aerospace group EADS reported a wider-than-expected 2007 net loss of €446 million today.

European aerospace group EADS reported a wider-than-expected 2007 net loss of €446 million today.

The loss compared with a slender €99 million profit in 2006 and market forecasts of a €329 million loss in 2007.

The Airbus parent, hit by delays to its A380 superjumbo and a weak dollar, also posted below-consensus operating profit of €52 million, down from €399 million in 2006.

Group revenues dipped to €39.1 billion in 2007 from €39.434 billion in 2006, due mainly to the weaker US currency.

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EADS said it expected a recovery in 2008, however, and predicted an operating profit of €1.8 billion and revenues topping €40 billion.

"Improvements across the board and our recent success on the US defence market point to a promising start into 2008," Chief Executive Louis Gallois said.

EADS and Northrop Grumman won a $35 billion aerial refuelling tanker contract from the US Air Force last month, but rival Boeing has said it would file a protest.