Airbus credit freeze costs tally up

(Global Trade Review, London, 3 August 2016) France’s Airbus group supplied a near tenfold increase in customer financing following a freeze in export credits from the UK, France and Germany earlier this year, in light of potential corruption and transparency issues. In its half-yearly statement the company said it supplied €587mn of financing to customers compared to €63mn for the first half of 2015. “This is temporary finance we are doing as we’re under suspension of export credit financing,” company CEO Tom Enders told analysts. However, this is only 1% of total ECA financing received in 2015, reflecting that the market is liquid and competitive, he added. Meanwhile, the UK Serious Fraud Office has opened a criminal probe related to use of third-party consultants.