Airbus continues its management reshuffle
l’Opinion 14 May 2018 at 12:45 p.m.
An announcement which comes as Airbus could lose several large contracts in Iran following the withdrawal of the United States from the July agreement 2015

 

Ion-Marc Valahu (Clairinvest) recalls the size of Iranian orders and the danger of seeing a strong euro weigh on the competitiveness of European companies. The national airline IranAir has ordered around a hundred aircraft from the European aircraft manufacturer for an amount of 20,8 Milliardo of dollars (17,5 Milliardo euros) based on list prices. On this same basis, orders placed by Tehran with Boeing amount to 17 Milliardo of dollars (€14.3 billion).

The financial director of the aeronautical group will leave the company at the same time as Tom Enders, the executive chairman of Airbus.
Airbus announced, Monday, the upcoming departure of its financial director, the European aeronautical group thus continuing the vast reshuffle of its management at a time when it is facing difficulties in the very lucrative long-haul segment.
End of April, the aircraft manufacturer has in fact warned that it will reduce production of the A330 in 2019 following bitter failures against its rival Boeing, while planning to further increase production of its flagship aircraft, the short-haul A320.
The departure of Harald Wilhelm, aged 52 years old, should intervene at the same time as that of Tom Enders, the current executive chairman of Airbus, and will complete a series which marks the end of an era within the group's management. The group announced in mid-December that Tom Enders would not seek a third term after April 2019. This departure will follow those of Fabrice Brégier, the boss of Airbus Commercial, in February, from the head of strategy Marwan Lahoud start 2017, as well as those of Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy and Chief Technology Officer Paul Eremenko.
Fall on the stock market. A 11h48, the Airbus stock lost 1,53% to 97,93 euros. At this level, the title remains not far from its record of 100,42 euros reached last week and increasing by more than 18% since the beginning of the year, against +4,2% for the CAC 40 over the period. In view of the decline in action, one broker noted that Harald Wilhelm was highly regarded in the industry, adding that his departure was therefore seen as a loss for Airbus.
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Two fund managers, however, observed, on one side, that this departure was widely expected in the wake of that of Tom Enders and, on the other, that the stock's bout of weakness was more a reflection of broader concerns, such as the fate of contracts signed by the group in Iran and the strength of the euro. “It would have been more worrying if Harald Wilhelm had resigned with immediate effect but he is not leaving until next year which gives Airbus ample time to find a successor”, and this Jérôme Schupp, fund manager at Prime Partners, which specifies favoring Boeing shares over those of Airbus.
Ion-Marc Valahu (Clairinvest) recalls the size of Iranian orders and the danger of seeing a strong euro weigh on the competitiveness of European companies. The national airline IranAir has ordered around a hundred aircraft from the European aircraft manufacturer for an amount of 20,8 Milliardo of dollars (17,5 Milliardo euros) based on list prices. On this same basis, orders placed by Tehran with Boeing amount to 17 Milliardo of dollars (€14.3 billion).
This contract, as well as those passed by other European companies with Iran, could be called into question by the United States' decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, which goes hand in hand with a reestablishment of American sanctions.
Harald Wilhelm a passé 27 years within the company, emphasized Airbus, whose 10 last as financial director of the civil aeronautical division and, in addition to that, the last six as group financial director.
Dennis Ranque, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Airbus, specified in a press release that the group was now beginning the search for a new financial director, noting that an announcement would be made “in due course”. Less than a month ago, Airbus had said it intended to appoint a new executive chairman at the end of the year.
(With Reuters)