New Satellite Orders Drive Airbus Defence and Space’s Q1 Performance

Photo: Airbus

Airbus Defence and Space‘s net order intake jumped 13% year-over-year in its 2021 fiscal first quarter to 1.926 billion euros ($2.32 billion), driven by contract wins in space systems and recurring services orders in military aircraft.

During the quarter, Airbus won a contract from Sky Perfect JSAT to build its Superbird-9 satellite based on the Airbus OneSat fully digital, in-orbit reconfigurable platform. The manufacturer also signed a deal with Eutelsat to build a new, all-electric satellite for one of the operator’s key orbital locations at 36 degrees East.

Airbus Defence and Space’s Q1 revenues were 2.115 billion euros ($2.55 billion). This total is nearly identical to its Q1 2020 revenue total of 2.111 billion euros. The division also increased its EBITDA from 15 million euros in the same period last year to 59 million euros in Q1 2021

Company-wide, Airbus’ consolidated revenues were also broadly stable year-over-year, dipping slightly from 10.6 billion euros in Q1 2020 to 10.5 billion in Q1 2021. The company maintained its 2021 financial guidance and assumes, “no further disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the company’s internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services,” according to the results.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury called out the Defence and Space division’s performance in his statement accompanying the results.

“The good Q1 results mainly reflect our commercial aircraft delivery performance, cost and cash containment, progress with the restructuring plan as well as positive contributions from our Helicopter and Defence and Space activities,” Faury said. “The first quarter shows that the crisis is not yet over for our industry, and that the market remains uncertain. We are investing in innovation and in the transformation of our company to deliver on our long-term ambitions across the portfolio.”