By Alessandro Parodi and Sarah Young
FARNBOROUGH, England, July 22 (Reuters) - Airbus shares jumped more than 7% on Wednesday after the European planemaker launched a €5 billion ($5.7 billion) share buyback and unveiled new mid-term targets including a near doubling of profits by 2029.
Handing investors an increasingly confident picture of the supply chain on the sidelines of the Farnborough Airshow, where delegates said the industry is turning a corner after engine and other shortages, Airbus said it
had more visibility than ever.
Its shares were up 7.1% in mid-morning Paris trading, on track for their biggest one-day jump since April 8.
Jefferies analyst Chloe Lemarie described the presentation as solid, but added, "the message on improved supply chain still needs to translate into meaningful acceleration in production".
Airbus is aiming to increase narrowbody jet production to 70 to 75 a month in 2027 from around 60 now, but remains in talks over 2027 engine supplies from Pratt & Whitney.
ROLLS SEES A350 DECISION SOON
It also sees strong demand for the wide-body A350 and reiterated it was studying a stretched version. But it declined to comment on the timing after the CEO of engine maker Rolls-Royce said Airbus could decide within 12 months.
Rolls-Royce CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said on Tuesday that Airbus was talking to airlines that were interested.
"We are working with them," he told reporters.
Airbus Commercial CEO Lars Wagner told analysts the company aimed to decide this year on higher production for the A350, landing somewhere between the current goal of 12 a month and 20.
Airbus is also looking at stretching its smaller A220.
Airbus said late on Tuesday it was targeting a core profit of €12 billion to €13 billion in 2029, up sharply from €7.13 billion last year and well above a 2026 target of €7.5 billion.
Some analysts called the targets conservative but Deutsche Bank analyst Christophe Menard said the timing of the three-year share buyback was a positive boost.
Airbus expects its main commercial aircraft business to generate around €10 billion in operating profit in 2029 and struck a positive tone on aircraft deliveries.
It started the year slowly due to supply-chain and engine bottlenecks but has since accelerated deliveries, increasing first-half handovers by 15% year-on-year.
($1 = €0.8763)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi in Gdansk, additional reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak and Sharon Singleton)
