Airbus earns fall in 3rd quarter as deliveries of loss-making superjumbo weigh on profit

PARIS – Airbus says its net profit slumped in the third quarter as it delivered more of its loss-making A380 superjumbos.

The European jet maker reported net profit of 264 million euros ($328 million) in the July to September quarter, down 41 percent from 445 million euros a year earlier.

Airbus delivered nine of its A380 superumbo jets in the quarter, up from four a year earlier. The A380 remains loss-making seven years after the first of the 525-seater jets entered service in 2007, and Airbus has delivered 144 of them since then.

In a statement Friday Airbus also warned that its A400M military transport aircraft program is being reviewed due to "negative cost and risk evolution," and that the financial impact would be disclosed in its full-year accounts.