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Top EADS executives meet in Munich
Top EADS executives were to meet informally in Munich, group spokesmen said, as the aerospace group seeks to recover from a stock market nosedive and questions over management of its aircraft unit Airbus.
“There is no supervisory board meeting today. No official EADS organ is meeting”, a German spokesman told reporters. Earlier, French junior industry minister Francois Loos had said the European Aeronautic Defence and Space company would hold its first board meeting since its stock plunged by more than 25 percent on a profit warning last week.
“A number of internal discussions between different participants will be held in Munich”, the German spokesman continued, refusing to disclose the identities of the participants or the topics of the talks yesterday.
In France, another EADS spokesman said: “Misters Forgeard and Enders will at least” be present, in reference to co-chief executives Noel Forgeard and Thomas Enders.
Ethically irreproachable</B>
“Its an informal meeting of a number of senior EADS executives, which is to take place ... in Munich. It is in no sense a (meeting of the) supervisory board”, he added. The meeting, which comes amid flatly-denied allegations of insider trading, would be presided by EADS co-chairmen Arnaud La-gardere and Manfred Bischoff, Loos had told LCI television.
Bischoff has yet to comment on a debacle which began when Airbus announced a serious delay in deliveries of its A380 superjumbo airliner.
Meanwhile, Forgeard has flatly denied accusations he knew about the problems associated with the plane’s development before he sold 2.5 million euros (3.1 million dollars) in stock options in March.
But he has not received strong support from key board members, even though the group itself issued a statement which denied that any irregularities had occured.
According to the French financial daily Les Echos, EADS was first alerted to a risk to deliveries on April 15, which was subsequently confirmed by an external audit.
The news, coupled with a profit warning, sparked losses of 5.5 billion euros in the group’s shares last week, wiping out more than a quarter of its stock market value.
EADS shares subsequently regained some ground, but over the five days ending Friday the stock had still lost 25.05 percent.
Yesterday the shares posted a gain of 2.26 percent to 20.35 euros in early trading on the Paris stock exchange, while the CAC 40 index of leading shares had risen by 0.87 percent overall. Loos told LCI : “I hope the AMF (the French financial markets regulator which has opened a probe) and EADS’s supervisory board will find the words to reassure clients and markets”.
The president of the French Senate’s finance commission, Jean Arthuis, told BFM radio yesterday: “For the French to support the market economy and businesses, directors of major companies must present an image that is ethically irreprochable”.
No dissention</B>
Les Echos said the affair would prompt EADS to rethink its dual chief executive structure and might encourage its principal German shareholder, DaimlerChrysler, to dispose of its remaining 22.32-percent stake.It added that regional German banks might be willing to acquire the shares.
A stake of 22.32 percent is also held by French interests comprised of the state, with 15 percent, and the media group Lagardere. But Forgeard told the French financial daily La Tribune there was no dissention among EADS’ French and German directors.
“I see no elements that would feed any sort of dissention between the French and the Germans”, he was quoted as saying yesterday.
“We are managing this crisis together with Tom Enders and Gustav Humbert,” the president of Airbus said.
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