Shares of European aerospace firm EADS have tumbled after its Airbus plane unit warned of further delays in deliveries of the new A380 super-jumbo.
EADS shares dropped 5.04 euros, or 20%, to a two-year low of 20.38 euros.
Airbus, which is 80%-owned by EADS and 20%-owned by the UK's BAE Systems, cut its A380 delivery target to nine from an original target of up to 27 in 2007.
As a result of the delays, EADS said it expected earnings to be hit by 500m euros a year between 2007 and 2010.
Order book
The company is predicting that earnings will be dented by a total of 2bn euros. The worry is that airlines may cancel orders or turn to rival producers such as Boeing.
Analysts have had to rework their earnings and share-price targets as a result, with Deutsche Bank cutting its recommendation on the stock to "hold" from "buy".
This is the second time Airbus has had to tweak its production of the much-heralded A380. So far, it has cost Airbus 12bn euros ($14bn; Ј8bn) to develop.
The A380 will be the world's largest airliner, seating more than 800 passengers across twin decks.
Airbus has taken 159 firm orders for the plane from 16 carriers, including Emirates, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic.
Despite the delays, EADS said its first A380 would be delivered to Singapore Airlines on schedule later this year.
(BBC)
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