LONDON: Airbus SE has posted a record net income of ？4.2bil (US$4.66bil or RM19.5bil) for 2021 and set plans to reinstate a dividend, in a decisive move to leave the worst of the two-year Covid-19 pandemic behind.

       A year-end delivery push helped the company retain the crown of world’s biggest planemaker for the third year in a row.

       The results will allow the Toulouse, France-based manufacturer to reward shareholders while gearing up production of its crucial A320-family aircraft.

       Handovers will increase to 720 aircraft this year from 2021’s 611, Airbus said in a statement. Chief executive officer Guillaume Faury has targetted a ramp-up in production of the key A320-series single-aisle jet to a rate of 65 per month by mid-2023.

       Airbus managed to keep deliveries and revenue flowing throughout the pandemic, but the 2021 results mark a return to strength for the planemaker, which has charted an ambitious plan to boost build rates beyond pre-covid levels in the coming years.

       The commercial rebound and cash containment efforts helped to underpin the decision to restore the dividend, Faury said in the statement. “At the same time, we continue to invest in our strategic priorities and in the transformation of our company.”

       The company has proposed a dividend of ？1.50 (RM7.14) a share to be paid on April 21. Airbus halted payouts to shareholders in the early months of the pandemic. The last annual dividend of ？1.65 (RM7.85) was paid in April 2019.

       While a recovery in flying is taking hold in Europe and the United States, bolstering the finances of customers, key markets in Asia continue to be held back by border curbs – including in China, where Faury has warned of a potential drag on sales.

       As business improves, the challenges have shifted to supply strains and rising costs for labour and materials. The manufacturer is seeking to hire more employees and rally suppliers to the ramp-up, even as it demands price cuts.

       The process is going forward as planned “in a complex environment,” the company said. It’s still working with suppliers on a potential increase in A320-family production rates beyond the 2023 target.

       Other issues facing Airbus include the threat of a strike at United Kingdom factories and a legal feud with one of its biggest customers, Qatar Airways, over flaking paint on the A350 wide-body.

       For this year, the company is targeting free cash flow of ？3.5bil (RM16.7bil) before customer financing and merger and acquisition spending, about equal to 2021. In 2020, during the depth of the crisis, that figure fell to negative ？6.9bil (RM32.84bil).

       Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) are targetted at ？5.5bil (RM26.17bil), up from ？4.9bil (RM23.31bil) in 2021.

       Fourth-quarter Ebit fell 18% from the same period in 2020, when Airbus raced to hand over 225 planes. Revenue decreased 14%, Airbus said, on 187 deliveries.

       Rival planemaker Boeing Co reported its fourth-quarter results in late January. The US company has had a tougher pandemic than Airbus due to the now-lifted grounding of its 737 Max jets and production problems with 787 Dreamliners, but it now looks to be turning a corner, predicting that cash flow will improve substantially this year.

       Boeing beat Airbus on orders last year as demand for the 737 Max returned after the global grounding of the jet, and freighter sales took off. The competition for new orders between the two planemakers looks set to continue, with Boeing netting a bumper order from Qatar Airways in January for its coming 777X freighter. — Bloomberg