The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co (EADS), parent of the embattled aircraft maker Airbus, lowered its earnings forecast for this year on Thursday. It also warned that the financial effect from delays of the new A380 superjumbo jet could be greater than previously estimated.
The parent company, EADS, scrambling to regain investor confidence after the departure early this month of Noel Forgeard, its French co-chief executive, said it now expected its operating profit for the year to be at the low end of forecasts of 3.2 billion to 3.4 billion euros (US$4.07 billion to US$4.32 billion). It attributed its reduced expectations primarily to the costs associated with the six-month delay in A380 deliveries announced in the middle of last month.
In a statement, Thomas Enders, the German co-chief executive, and his new French counterpart, Louis Gallois, said the group faced "huge challenges ahead" as it struggled to bring A380 deliveries back on schedule and renegotiate customer contracts for the redesigned A350 jet, a competitor to Boeing's 777 and 787.
The news came as EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus, announced that its net profit for the second quarter had dropped 9.4 percent, to 527 million euros.
Thursday's lowered outlook came in addition to the roughly 2 billion euros in lost earnings for the 2007-2010 period that EADS estimated last month would result from the A380's troubles, which Airbus has attributed to complex electrical-wiring bottlenecks on assembly lines.
The earlier profit warning sent EADS shares tumbling 26 percent on June 14 and forced the resignations of Forgeard and the chief executive of Airbus, Gustav Humbert.
On Thursday, EADS cautioned that an internal study of the A380 production process, scheduled for completion this fall, "could lead to the recognition of extra expenses."
It also warned that the redesign of the A350 could result in additional charges this year. Airbus had received around 100 orders for the plane before the redesign was announced on July 17, and the parent company said on Thursday that it would "have to assess the costs and benefits related to previously signed A350 contracts."
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
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