Airbus generated €4.9 billion ($5.9bn) in cash during the fourth quarter, while issuing cautious guidance on the pace of its recovery from aviation’s worst-ever crisis.
The European plane maker rode a late flurry of jet deliveries to beat its target and break even for a second straight quarter, on the basis of adjusted free cash flow. Yet jet handovers are forecast to stay at 2020’s depressed levels this year, even as Airbus plans to ramp up production in the second half of the year.
“It is hard to reconcile the full-year 2021 guidance with what we saw in the third quarter of 2020 and what we think unfolded in the fourth…