Airbus has pledged to deliver more aircraft to achieve higher operating profits this year, after incurring a major loss after an international settlement in the bribery and problems with the A400M transport plane.


According to Reuters, Airbus incurred a net loss of 1.36 billion euros (1.48 billion dollars) in 2019, due to the said settlement.


Airbus said on Thursday that poor expectations for sales of the military transport plane had resulted in a cost of 1.21 billion euros, and that this item would continue its negative impact in the coming years. The entire year’s loss is also due to allocations for a settlement concluded last month with representatives of a $ 4 billion claim relating to past corruption practices.


Airbus added that the revised operating profit, excluding costs and non-recurring items, rose 19 percent to 6.95 billion euros and will exceed 7.5 billion in 2020. Revenue increased 11 percent to 70.48 billion.


CEO Geum Fury said that Airbus has achieved a solid core financial performance already. He added that this year, he will focus on improvements in operation and costs, as well as re-establishing our corporate culture.


Airbus shares fell 1.3 percent at 1002 GMT.


Airbus has reduced the potential damage from the coronavirus outbreak, which is causing disruptions to airlines and the global economy overall, and has supported the growth forecast for aviation that assumes no major disruptions, including those caused by the virus.


Fawri acknowledged that some Chinese airlines had requested a very short delay for deliveries of new aircraft, in what he described as a logistical matter. Airbus aims to deliver about 880 commercial aircraft this year.


Airbus raised the proposed dividend by 9 percent to 1.8 euros per share, expecting a free flow of cash for the entire year by nearly 4 billion euros, up from 3.509 billion in 2019.
Profits have been hit by the A340M, added to billions of previous costs for Europe's largest military project, which has become a financial thorn in Airbus's lane for more than a decade.


Airbus said the project delivered 14 aircraft in 2019, on schedule, but it now faces obstacles posing an increasing challenge such as the repeated extension of the ban on German exports to Saudi Arabia.
In the fourth quarter of 2019, adjusted operating profit fell 9 percent to 2.81 billion euros, up from the 2.74 billion euros that analysts had expected, according to an Airbus survey. Quarterly revenue increased 4 percent to 24.31 billion euros.