| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
EADS joins airline free fall
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Airbus parent EADS was down more than seven percent early on Monday as Europe's biggest planemaker joined a fall in airline shares, hit by risks of lower orders from war-hit carriers. Airbus is aiming to top U.S. rival Boeing Co for the first time in 2003 with 300 deliveries but both companies risk order cancellations as weak airlines cut spending. Shares in EADS, European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co NV, were down 7.38 percent at 6.90 euros at 0921 GMT. French brokerage CAI Cheuvreux downgraded EADS to underperform from outperform on Monday, citing airrlines' woes. "We have moved from a delicate situation to a much more difficult situation for EADS' clients and their ability to finance their investments,'' a Cheuvreux official said. Analysts said financial trouble at the world's largest airline, American Airlines, would have no direct impact on Airbus but underscored sector woes. "I think the news on American Airlines is weighing on the sector,'' said one London-based sector analyst. "I suspect the American woes are fuelling more general concerns by highlighting how difficult the environment is, particularly in the United States.'' Airbus has no pending orders from American Airlines but is counting on other weak U.S. airlines for orders, including United Airlines and US Airways. Banking sources close to the matter told Reuters at the weekend American Airlines had ramped up discussions for $1.5 billion in debtor-in-possession financing and could file for bankruptcy protection as early as Monday. Parent AMR Corp has said it needs to cut structural costs by about $4 billion a year. Airbus customer Swiss International Air Lines said on Sunday it was preparing a "worst case scenario'' just days after announcing the only major plane cancellation since war began in Iraq. Swiss cut an order to 30 from 60 aircraft from Brazil's Embraer last week and said it wanted to reschedule deliveries from Airbus. Britain's BAE Systems Plc, which owns 20 percent of Airbus, was down 0.22 percent at 112 3/4 pence. British Airways led a fall in Europe's largest carriers early on Monday, down 4.61 percent at 103 1/2 pence. Closely held Swiss was down 6.67 percent at 2.80 Swiss francs. Asian airlines closed lower, with Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways down 6.86 percent to HK$9.55 hit by the impact of a mystery virus expected to slow economies and ticket sales. Asian governments have issued travel warnings for destinations where the virus has been linked to deaths, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
