BAE sells Astrium stake for £104m
AEROSPACE giant BAE Systems has cashed in its 25% stake in the European space joint venture Astrium in return for a new joint venture alliance to service the Ministry of Defence's military telecommunication satellite requirements.
BAE said it had sold its stake in Astrium for e165m (£104m) to EADS, the Franco-German-Spanish aerospace group that owns Airbus and controlled the other 75% of Astrium. Parallel to the deal, BAE said it would team with EADS to launch the new Paradigm joint venture to land the MoD work.
The deal came as EADS reported better-than-expected underlying half-year profits of e775m and maintained a strong net cash position of e1.4bn.
The group confirmed its forecast Airbus deliveries of 300 in both 2002 and 2003. The latest Airbus to come off the Toulouse production line, the A340-600, was showcased at this week's Farnborough Air Show by launch customer Virgin Atlantic.
BAE said it was also more upbeat on growth prospects for its aeronautics and defence and civil systems.
