Airbus 2015 Annual Report Download - page 21

EARNINGS PER SHARE(1)
PERFORMANCE (in €)
AIRBUS GROUP DIVIDEND
Gross dividend per share (in €)
ramp-up plans to rate 60 on the single-aisle in 2019 and back
to 7 per month on the A330 in 2017. Deferral activity is normal
and net cancellations are at a very low level.
Despite a difficult market environment linked to global
softness and weaker oil and gas, Airbus Helicopters
defended its market position.
We saw very healthy momentum on the Defence and Space
side, with a book-to-bill above 1. That was driven very much
by military aircraft, especially tankers, but we did well on
telecommunications satellites, too.
Of course, we’re also watching the macro-environment very
closely and we have the appropriate risk management tools
in place to manage backlog. Air traffic continues to grow at a
higher pace than global GDP. The low oil price is supporting
the profitability of our airline customers, they are now reporting
unprecedented margins. Low interest rates and high liquidity
also make it a favourable environment for aircraft financing, as
commercial aircraft is an attractive asset class.
How do you see the Group’s performance
in the years ahead?
As we’ve clearly said in our guidance, we expect to deliver
more than 650 aircraft in 2016 and the commercial order
book is expected to grow. We expect 2016 EBIT* before one-
off and EPS* before one-off to be stable, based on a constant
perimeter. 2016 is a year of consolidation while we deliver on
our challenging programme targets, and with lower A330
deliveries as we proactively reduced the rate.
Looking at 2017 and in particular ’18 and ’19, we see
significant earnings growth potential, from the building blocks
we have in place.
So what are the main profitability drivers?
Firstly, we have strong A320 volume potential as we follow the
path to rate 50 in 2017, then rate 60 in 2019. The A320neo
premium will come on top of that from 2018.
Then we have the A350. We are targeting rate 10 by the
end of 2018. On that basis, the programme should reach
breakeven before the end of the decade. This is a significant
improvement from today, where we have to bear the usual
losses of the early industrialisation phase.
On top of that we have the favourable FX environment. We’re
fully hedged for 2016 and almost completely hedged for 2017,
too. But we’re taking the full benefit of the upside for 2018 and
beyond, which will feed through into our earnings.
Our R&D spending should normalise at a lower level than
today’s, even with some buffer for incremental innovation.
And finally, of course, we continue to drive competitiveness
initiatives across our businesses.
So all in all, looking from today’s standpoint, as long as we
deliver on our programme execution plans, I’d say the best
is yet to come!
How much of the improvement do you expect
to flow through to shareholders?
We have a clear commitment to improving shareholder
returns. We have more than doubled the dividend since
2012. We introduced a formal dividend policy at the end of
2013: a sustainable growth in dividend within a payout ratio of
30-40%. This has provided shareholders with more visibilit y of
returns for their investment.
On top of that, we’ve returned value to our shareholders
through our share buybacks, with an additional € 1 billion
launched in October 2015. Capital allocation matters to
us! We will continue to review our capital allocation policy
against our cash performance, cash position and future
cash needs.
EBIT* BEFORE ONE-OFF(3)
(in € bn)
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FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
4
3
2
1
0
4
3
2
1
0
2013 2014 2015
1.86
2.99
3.43
Pay-out ratio
(2) To be proposed to the Annual General Meeting 2016.
(1) FY2015 Average number of shares: 785,621,099 compared to 782,962,385 in FY2014.
(3) In % of Revenues.
1
.
5
1
.
2
0
.
9
0.
6
0
.
3
0
1
.
5
1
.
2
0
.
9
0.6
0
.
3
0
0.75
1.20 1.30(2)
2014 20152013
40% 40% 38%
5
4
3
2
1
0
5
4
3
2
1
0
2013 2014 2015
6.1%
6.7% 6.4%
4.13
3.54 4.07
AIRBUS GROUP ANNUAL REPORT 2015 l 19 l