Foreign Currency Exposure
A signifi cant portion of the Company’s revenues is denominated
in US dollars, while a major portion of its costs is incurred in euro,
and to a lesser extent, in pounds sterling. Consequently, to the
extent that the Company does not use fi nancial instruments to
hedge its exposure resulting from this foreign currency mismatch,
its profi ts will be affected by market changes in the exchange
rate of the US dollar against these currencies. The Company has
therefore implemented a long-term hedging portfolio to help secure
the rates at which a portion of its future US dollar-denominated
revenues (arising primarily at Airbus) are converted into euro or
pound sterling, in order to manage and minimise this foreign
currency exposure.
There are complexities inherent in determining whether and when
foreign currency exposure of the Company will materialise, in
particular given the possibility of unpredictable revenue variations
arising from order cancellations, postponements or delivery delays.
The Company may also have diffi culty in fully implementing its
hedging strategy if its hedging counterparties are unwilling to
increase derivatives risk limits with the Company, and is exposed
to the risk of non-performance or default by these hedging
counterparties. The exchange rates at which the Company is able
to hedge its foreign currency exposure may also deteriorate, as the
euro could appreciate against the US dollar for some time as it has
been the case in the past and as the higher capital requirements for
banks result in higher credit charges for uncollateralised derivatives.
Accordingly, the Company’s foreign currency hedging strategy
may not protect it from signifi cant changes in the exchange rate of
the US dollar to the euro and the pound sterling, in particular over
the long term, which could have a negative effect on its results of
operation and fi nancial condition. In addition, the portion of the
Company’s US dollar-denominated revenues that is not hedged in
accordance with the Company’s hedging strategy will be exposed
to changes in exchange rates, which may be signifi cant.
When effectively hedged, the Company recognises fair value
changes of the derivative portfolio in equity until instruments’
maturity. If the US dollar appreciates against the euro compared
to the rate at which the Company has hedged its future US dollar
denominated revenues the mark to market of the derivative portfolio
becomes negative. Hence, the Company’s equity is accordingly
reduced which could eventually result into restrictions of equity
otherwise available for dividend distribution or share buy-backs.
Currency exchange rate fl uctuations in those currencies other
than the US dollar in which the Company incurs its principal
manufacturing expenses (mainly the euro) may affect the ability
of the Company to compete with competitors whose costs are
incurred in other currencies. This is particularly true with respect
to fl uctuations relative to the US dollar, as many of the Company’s
products and those of its competitors (e.g., in the defence export
If economic conditions were to deteriorate, or if more pronounced
market disruptions were to occur, there could be a new or
incremental tightening in the credit markets, low liquidity, and
extreme volatility in credit, currency, commodity and equity
markets. This could have a number of effects on the Company’s
business, including:
■ requests by customers to postpone or cancel existing orders
for aircraft (including helicopters) or decision by customers to
review their order intake strategy due to, among other things,
lack of adequate credit supply from the market to fi nance
aircraft purchases or change in operating costs or weak levels
of passenger demand for air travel and cargo activity more
generally;
■ an increase in the amount of sales fi nancing that the Company
must provide to its customers to support aircraft purchases,
thereby increasing its exposure to the risk of customer defaults
despite any security interests the Company might have in the
underlying aircraft;
■ further reductions in public spending for defence, homeland
security and space activities, which go beyond those budget
consolidation measures already proposed by governments
around the world;
■ fi nancial instability, inability to obtain credit or insolvency of key
suppliers and subcontractors, thereby impacting the Company’s
ability to meet its customer obligations in a satisfactory and
timely manner;
■ continued de-leveraging as well as mergers, rating downgrades
and bankruptcies of banks or other fi nancial institutions, resulting
in a smaller universe of counterparties and lower availability of
credit, which may in turn reduce the availability of bank guarantees
needed by the Company for its businesses or restrict its ability
to implement desired foreign currency hedges;
■ default of investment or derivative counterparties and other
financial institutions, which could negatively impact the
Company’s treasury operations including the cash assets of
the Company; and
■ decreased performance of the Group’s cash investments due
to low and partly negative interest rates.
The Company’s fi nancial results could also be negatively affected
depending on gains or losses realised on the sale or exchange
of financial instruments; impairment charges resulting from
revaluations of debt and equity securities and other investments;
interest rates; cash balances; and changes in fair value of
derivative instruments. Increased volatility in the fi nancial markets
and overall economic uncertainty would increase the risk of the
actual amounts realised in the future on the Company’s fi nancial
instruments differing signifi cantly from the fair values currently
assigned to them.
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10 AIRBUS GROUP REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2014
Risk Factors
1 Financial Market Risks
Counterparty Credit
In addition to the credit risk relating to sales fi nancing as discussed
above, the Company is exposed to credit risk to the extent of
non-performance by its counterparties for fi nancial instruments,
such as hedging instruments and cash investments. However, the
Group has policies in place to avoid concentrations of credit risk
and to ensure that credit risk exposure is limited.
Counterparties for transactions in cash, cash equivalents and
securities as well as for derivative transactions are limited to
highly rated fi nancial institutions, corporates or sovereigns.
The Company’s credit limit system assigns maximum exposure
lines to such counterparties, based on a minimum credit rating
threshold as published by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch
market) are priced in US dollars. The Company’s ability to compete
with competitors may be eroded to the extent that any of the
Company’s principal currencies appreciates in value against the
principal currencies of such competitors.
The Company’s consolidated revenues, costs, assets and liabilities
denominated in currencies other than the euro are translated into
the euro for the purposes of compiling its fi nancial statements.
Changes in the value of these currencies relative to the euro
will therefore have an effect on the euro value of the Company’s
reported revenues, costs, earnings before interest and taxes, pregoodwill
impairment and exceptionals (“EBIT*”), other fi nancial
result, assets and liabilities.
See “— Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations — 2.1.7 Hedging Activities”
for a discussion of the Company’s foreign currency hedging
strategy. See “— Management’s Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — 2.1.2.5
Accounting for Hedged Foreign Exchange Transactions in the
Financial Statements” for a summary of the Company