Airbus trims A350 output as it posts larger-than-expected second-quarter loss

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus announced a fresh cut in production of its A350 long-range jet on Thursday as it posted a larger-than-expected second-quarter loss amid the coronavirus crisis.

The European planemaker also said it hoped to avoid consuming cash before M&A and customer financing in the second half of the year after a quarterly outflow of 4.4 billion euros driven by the pandemic.

Airbus reported an adjusted second-quarter operating loss of 1.226 billion euros ($1.44 billion) as revenues slid 55% to 8.317 billion euros.

It said it had trimmed A350 production to five jets a month, after bringing the monthly rate down from 9.5 to six in April.

Analysts were on average expecting quarterly revenues of 8.552 billion euros and an adjusted operating loss of 1.027 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)