Airbus plans special dividend, takes new space charge

investing.com:

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) -Europe's Airbus unveiled a special dividend on Thursday after posting higher 2023 results, buoyed by resurgent demand for jetliners and despite a fresh charge of 200 million euros ($215 million) at its troubled Space business.

The world's largest commercial planemaker said core adjusted operating profit rose 4% to 5.8 billion euros as revenue climbed 11% to 65.4 billion, and predicted core profit of 6.5 to 7.0 billion euros in 2024.

For the fourth quarter, adjusted earnings came in just below market forecasts compiled by the company at 2.21 billion euros.

Airbus is riding a wave of orders from airlines coping with a rebound in travel demand from the pandemic, helping it to build up cash reserves in contrast with U.S. rival Boeing (NYSE:BA) which is mired in debts stemming from a series of crises.

Airbus proposed an unchanged regular dividend of 1.8 euros a share, and added a special dividend of 1 euro per share as net cash topped the 10-billion-euro threshold previously identified as a potential trigger for returning more cash to shareholders.

Shares were fractionally lower in early trading, however, with some analysts pointing to cautious financial forecasts for 2024 and a lack of fresh updates on a broader share buyback.

Investors have been pushing Airbus for a buyback as it extends a lead over Boeing in the single-aisle jet market.

Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer said Airbus had chosen the special dividend to act quickly and to signal that it was sticking to its pledges on distributing cash.

Airbus forecast around 800 jet deliveries for 2024 but announced a further delay in entry to service of its A321XLR single-aisle jet to the third quarter from the second. The first customer