Christopher Hohn, owner of one of the world’s largest hedge funds, has called on Airbus to “immediately drop” its plan to take over a third of Evidian, the new Atos subsidiary that will bring together its cybersecurity activities. According to ‘Financial Times’ and ‘Bloomberg’, the activist, who owns 3% of the aircraft manufacturer’s shares, has published a document to the French company in which he questions whether it hides political motivations and defends that it is going against logic this decision.
In the letter sent to Airbus Chairman Guillaume Faury, Hohn says the company can have a “productive and profitable” relationship with Evidian without having to buy a stake and that the offer resembles a bailout given Airbus’ high level of debt. Athos.
Atos announced last week that it had received an offer from the European aeronautics giant to enter with a minority stake in this company established after the spin-off of the digital technologies group. Specifically, it stressed in a statement that this offer, which would mean “a long-term technological and strategic agreement”, is consistent with its plan presented in June last year to separate its businesses, and that its board of directors has decided to continue the Discussions with Airbus.
In any case, he pointed out that he does not intend to give exclusivity to Airbus and that he will examine the brands of interest that he may receive from other partners, and that contribute to supporting his financial and industrial project. At the beginning of January, rumors about Airbus’s intention to enter Evidian leaked into the press, and then the European giant limited itself to pointing out that as a global company, they were “in constant discussion” with their partners, customers and suppliers in the sector. , but that these conversations were private.
Airbus achieves a new profit record
The European aeronautical group Airbus obtained a record profit of 4,247 million last year, a relatively modest increase of 1% in a complicated industrial context marked by inflation and, above all, by problems in the supply chain.
Its CEO called those results “solid” but highlighted the “adverse operating environment that has not allowed our supply chain to recover at the rate we expected.” This was reflected in the operating net result, which even fell slightly to 5,325 million euros, compared to 5,342 million in 2021.
But even more in commercial aircraft deliveries, which cannot exceed 661, and although they are more than the 611 aircraft of the previous year, they remain below the 700 that had been the company’s goal for months. Airbus’ total turnover grew 13% to 58,763 million, of which 41,428 million corresponded to its commercial aircraft division, which grew 15%. The helicopter business reported 7,048 million, an increase of 8%, which mainly reflects the progression in services, but also in deliveries in number (344 after 338 in 2021).
