Airbus bosses in crisis meeting as pressure mounts on French CEO

The four bosses of Airbus parent EADS met for closed-door talks today, days after the European defence group was hit by costly new delays to the A380 superjumbo and questions about stock sales beforehand.

The meeting came amid growing pressure on Noel Forgeard, the company’s French co-chief executive, who made a €2.5m profit exercising stock options in March – weeks before management asked for an internal assessment of the production hitches.

Investors wiped more than five billion euros off the company’s market value last Wednesday after it announced a further seven-month delay to the superjumbo.

EADS made no formal statement after today’s talks in Munich, attended by co-Chairmen Arnaud Lagardere and Manfred Bischoff, as well as Forgeard and his German counterpart, Thomas Enders. The company’s key management and board positions are evenly split between its French and German shareholders.

Spokesman Michael Hauger said the meeting addressed ways to avoid any repetition of the production delays afflicting the A380, without seeking to apportion blame.

But criticism of Forgeard intensified today as officials from France’s Financial Markets Authority carried out searches at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse as part of their investigation into the suspect share transactions, announced last week.

Forgeard, who was chief executive of Airbus until last year, was among six EADS executives who sold large numbers of shares in March, and his children also offloaded company stock.

French Socialist leader Francois Hollande called for intervention by the government, which owns 15% of EADS, over what he termed a matter of “public morality.”

“Can Mr. Forgeard remain at the helm of EADS?” Hollande asked.

Support for the embattled EADS boss was noticeably thin in government circles. Industry Minister Francois Loos also passed up an opportunity to defend him, saying in a television interview that his fate was in the hands of the EADS board.

He added: “What’s important to me is that this flower of the French and European economy preserves its image on the international scene, allowing it to increase sales and be present on all markets.”

Enders also said yesterday that he had refrained from selling EADS stock.

“Of course it would have been lucrative to exercise the options in March, given EADS’ high share price,” he said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. “But I decided it wouldn’t be opportune to do so.”

Forgeard has vigorously denied accusations that he profited from insider knowledge. In an interview published today by financial daily La Tribune, he said he was “shocked” by the allegations.

He also maintains he had no knowledge that the core shareholders of EADS - French defence and media group Lagardere SCA and Germany’s DaimlerChrysler AG - planned to sell a ombined 15% of the company.

The move depressed the price of EADS shares after it was announced on April 4.

EADS shares, which plunged 26% on Wednesday after the A380 delay and a profit warning, closed 1.3% higher at €20.15 in Paris today.