Growing Backlog Helps EADS Finish 2004 Profitably

摘要

Eads Space returned to profitability in 2004, posting a pretax profit of 10 million euros ($13 million) on revenues of 2.59 billion euros after three years of losses related to internal restructuring, work-force reductions and rocket- and satellite-manufacturing difficulties. Europe's biggest space-hardware manufacturer said its space-related sales in 2004 were boosted by several large contracts. These include an order for 30 Ariane 5 rockets totaling 3 billion euros, the 3.3 billion-euro contract with Britain's Ministry of Defence for satellite communications services, and an initial 900 million-euro contract with the French Defense Ministry for France's M51 strategic missile, an order expected ultimately to reach 3 billion euros.