With almost 30 billion euros in cash and a healthy order book, Airbus has survived the first part of the crisis well. The Spanish-French-German aircraft manufacturer, headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, does not want to hear of state aid.
How long can the consortium boast this relatively comfortable position, while it has mostly operated in the aviation sector, which has been walloped in this crisis.
That is one of the issues that European Investors / VEB will raise at the Annual General Meeting with shareholders on April 16th, which will be held whilst seeking to reduce attendance to an absolute minimum and without accommodating for electronic communication channels this year.
Read the letter of European Investors
European Investors, therefore, has sent in a list of questions to Airbus in the run-up to the Annual General Meeting.
One of the issues that will play an essential role in the meeting is Airbus’s settlement in February this year, with the French, British and US authorities, to end their prosecution concerning a series of large-scale kickbacks and instances of fraud (https://www.bloomberg. com / news / articles / 2020-01-31 / airbus-to-pay-4-billion-fine-to-settle-bribery-probes).
The settlement with public prosecution agencies from three countries and the facts that have been revealed are reasons to check whether Airbus has always informed shareholders sufficiently and in a timely manner about the course of events surrounding irregularities that have been brought to light. The aditor’s role in this context also deserves attention and clarification.
European Investors will publish the response to the questions posed to Airbus on its website https://europeaninvestors.eu/.