Dear shareholders and ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome on behalf of Airbus and the Board of Directors. Thank you for being here and for all of you to attend this event online, for being with us today. We appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedules, and we're grateful for your continued engagement and interest in our company, in Airbus. The AGM is a key opportunity for the Board, for the Management, to engage directly with you, our shareholders, on important topics, and this annual dialogue helps us to progress both as a Board and as a company as a whole. Before we open this meeting, here is a short video about Airbus and the actual situation.
[Presentation]
Firstly, I would like to introduce you to members of the Airbus Management Team who are with me here on stage, Guillaume Faury, our Chief Executive Officer and Executive Board Member. We have Amparo Moraleda. She's our Lead Independent Director and Chair of the Remuneration, Nomination and Governance Committee. Thomas Toepfer is our Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. John Harrison to my left is our General Counsel and Head of Public Affairs at Airbus. He will act as the Secretary of this meeting. I should also mention that Julie Kitcher, our Chief Sustainability Officer, is currently away for medical treatment and she is focused on her recovery. We wish her the very best during this time and hope she's well soon. In her absence, her team and the company remain fully engaged as sustainability continues to be a priority for Airbus.
It continues to be a priority for us as a Board and the Executive Management Team. I would also like to introduce two of the Company's legal representatives who are with us here today. One is Paul van der Bijl from the firm NautaDutilh, Paul, Counsel of the Company in the Netherlands, and Yann Guermeur , our internal Head of Governance Matters. Jeroen Vernooij from EY as our external Auditor of the Company is also present at the meeting. I would now like to introduce the individuals standing for appointment or for renewal as Directors today. They are all attending in person and I would ask each of them to stand briefly as I read their names. The first is Stephan Gemkow. Stephan? Yeah. We have Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, Oliver Zipse, Mark Dunkerley, and Tony Wood.
The Board highly values the diverse expertise and the strategic leadership these nominees bring to Airbus. I am confident that their collective experience will continue to serve your best interests as shareholders and the best interests of all stakeholders. Excuse me. Before handing it over to John Harrison, who will start with the legal formalities, we would like to show you another short video that summarizes Airbus' 2025 activities. Well, every year we thought it can't get more intense like this one, and then the next one gets more intense. Let's see what happens now. John, will you take over, please?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Shareholders and attendees, I need to draw your attention to some practical matters today. The meeting is going to be held in English, but we do have simultaneous translations available for your convenience. On your translation device that each of you have, you can choose English, which is channel one, French, channel two, German, channel three, Spanish, channel four, and Dutch, channel five. The use of mobile phones and recording devices is prohibited, and please, these devices must be switched off from now on. A live webcast is available for this meeting until the end of the presentations. Shareholders who requested to attend this meeting online can follow the entire meeting. The total number of issued shares and of voting rights present or represented will now be shown on screen.
In accordance with Dutch legal requirements and the company's articles, we've complied with all of the convening formalities. The date of the Annual General Meeting was published online on the 3rd of February 2026, and on the 3rd of March 2026, a convening notice, including the agenda and registration process to attend, was also published online, along with other relevant documents for this AGM. Such information was also available at the company's registered offices. Therefore, this AGM has been legally convened and can validly decide on all matters on the agenda. Now let us briefly go through the agenda, which is now shown on the screen. First, the Chairman will present some topics from the Board Report, which notably includes the revision of the dividend policy, and introduce the Board members, in more detail, whose appointment or reappointment is proposed.
The Chief Executive Officer will provide an overview on 2025 and indicate the key priorities for 2026. This will be followed by a presentation by EY, the statutory auditors, on their audit for the financial year 2025. After the presentation, we will have a Q&A session. This will cover all items on the agenda. Finally, we'll proceed with voting on the 15 proposed resolutions, which will be presented on the screen. Once the voting has been completed, we will close the AGM. I'm back to you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you very much, John. Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, this AGM takes place amid a major conflict in the Middle East that has serious implications for the economy. We cannot predict the outcome of this volatile situation, but rest assured that the Board and the Management are focused on navigating through these challenging periods. We'd like to extend a special thank you to our employees who are based in the Middle East, who have been coping with this very challenging security situation in recent weeks. I would now like to provide a brief overview of 2025, further to what you have seen already in the video, and Guillaume will then go into more details shortly. Ongoing conflicts and trade tensions, another year of significant geopolitical volatility, the Company had to traverse a complex operating environment that included uncertainties over tariffs and supply chain challenges.
Despite these headwinds, Airbus showed its strength and resilience to achieve various commercial, operational, and strategic milestones. Notably, the company reported a record financial performance and also made progress with its core strategic priority of sustainability. The civil aviation industry as a whole showed its robustness and significant contribution to the world economy, with passenger and freight traffic increasing solidly. Against this backdrop, Airbus saw healthy demand for its range of commercial aircraft and reported increased deliveries vis-à-vis 2024. Amid multiple global crises and conflicts, defense products play an important role for security and sovereignty in Europe and beyond our defense products. There is, however, still an urgent need for European nations to increase investment, but also to deepen cooperation in defense. It is ridiculous that we in Europe still operate 140-plus technical standards versus much, much less in the United States, for example.
During 2025, the Airbus Defence and Space division showed the positive results of its transformation program, reporting improved profitability and a record order intake. It was also a great year for Airbus Helicopters, which reported higher profitability and increased order intake. The division saw a strong contribution from the Military segment and its service operations. I would now like to turn to the activities of the Board throughout the year. We covered a wide range of strategic, technological, and operational topics in 2025. These included aviation safety, the geopolitical landscape, and its implications on Airbus, including tariffs, sanctions, restrictions and so on. M&A transactions, AI, and other matters were also an important part of our agenda, such as in our space business, which you have followed, this important European champion, which we are trying to put together with Thales and Leonardo.
The Board was kept closely informed about supply chain developments in commercial aircraft and in regards to the turnaround of Airbus Defence and Space, including important technological product innovation and partnership initiatives. Like every year, there was a regular dialogue with Airbus's top management and its leadership talents and main stakeholders in general. 11 Board meetings were held in 2025, with an average attendance rate of 95%. In addition, ad- hoc meetings addressed various strategic matters. The three Board committees performed all of their duties and discussed items within their respective remits. The committees showed high attendance rates between 94% and 100%. In 2025, the Board held its first-ever Annual off-site strategy meeting in India. We do have strategy meetings every year, but this was the first where we spent an entire week in India.
It was inspiring to visit this very dynamic country that is home to many of Airbus's important customers, development partners, suppliers, and of course, employees. We visited the Airbus C295 component assembly facility in Hyderabad. We saw the Airbus Air India Pilot Training Center in Delhi in the presence of the Minister of Civil Aviation. Furthermore, we were received by the Prime Minister and had other political encounters at highest level. I would now like to proceed with the Directors appointments and reappointments being proposed for your approval today. With respect to the current mandates, the three Non-Executive Directors proposed for reappointment are Mark Dunkerley, Stephan Gemkow, and Antony Wood. Following extensive discussions within the Remuneration, Nomination, and Governance Committee and the full Board, we are pleased to seek your support for their reappointment.
The Board would like to specifically recognize the exceptional level of commitment they have demonstrated throughout their tenure. They have consistently exceeded the formal requirements of their roles, proactively seeking a deeper and more fundamental understanding of our operations by performing multiple site visits throughout the year and engaging with our teams across the business. It is this proven dedication, alongside the exceptional competencies and profiles of Henriette Hallberg Thygesen and Oliver Zipse, that forms the basis of our full recommendation today. Let me give you further context on these individuals. I start with Mark Dunkerley. Mark has been a vital part of the Board since 2020. Mark currently provides essential oversight as a member of both the Audit and the RNGC, the Remuneration and Governance Committee. Mark's commitment to this role can also be seen through his active participation.
Since his appointment, he has maintained a perfect meeting attendance record and has conducted 19 site visits to stay closely connected to our operations. Mark's background is rooted deeply in the aerospace industry. Beyond his technical perspective as a pilot, he has spent decades in senior leadership roles across the global aviation sector. Following an early career with British Airways, he held executive positions at Worldwide Flight Services and Sabena Airlines Group. Most notably as President and CEO of Hawaiian Airlines from 2005 until 2018, Mark led a highly successful organizational transformation that is widely recognized within and beyond the industry. We value Mark's presence on this board because he pairs this excellent track record with a profound understanding of product safety, operational challenges, and the complexities of sustainability in aviation. His ability to provide both a strategic and a highly practical perspective remains an asset to our discussions.
Next, I would like to introduce Stephan Gemkow, who also joined our Board in 2020. Since our last AGM, Stephan has stepped into the role of Chair of the Audit Committee, and in his first year in this capacity, he worked closely and seamlessly with Catherine Guillouard in the transition and demonstrating a thorough command of our financial oversight and risk management process from the outset. The smooth succession is a testament to Stephan's expertise and his deep commitment to the Board's rigorous standards. Stephan is also actively engaged in the Ethics, Compliance, and Sustainability Committee. Since his appointment to the Board, he has maintained a perfect meeting attendance record and has conducted 13 site visits.
Stephan's career spans over two decades of financial leadership at Lufthansa, where he served as CFO and as a member of the Executive Management Board, navigating the group through significant global expansion and the financial crisis. He subsequently served as CEO of Haniel & Cie, overseeing major restructuring and investment strategies for one of Germany's largest investment holdings. Stephan provides the Board with invaluable expertise in finance, risk assessment, and corporate governance, and his deep understanding of the industry's financial drivers, combined with his experience in complex stakeholder management, provides a level of stability that is essential to the Board's oversights in this critical geopolitical situation. Finally, we're seeking reappointment of Antony Wood, who joined our Board in 2022, and he currently serves as a member of the Audit Committee. Tony takes a proactive approach to our governance and oversight. He diligently inquires into the Company's operations.
He consistently seeks to understand the finer details of the business. Since his appointment, he has maintained a perfect meeting attendance record and has conducted 14 site visits to be very well informed of our operations. Tony brings a wealth of specialized knowledge to the board, particularly within the defense and aerospace sectors. He's an engineer by training and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He spent 15 years at Rolls-Royce, where he served on the Executive Committee and as President of Aerospace. More recently, he led Meggitt PLC as Chief Executive Officer from 2018-2022. His leadership experience is further complemented by his current roles as Chairman of Chemring Group and a Director of National Grid, which provides him with a unique perspective on both the defense as well as the energy sector.
The Board highly values Tony's technical expertise in engineering and innovation, as well as his deep understanding of manufacturing and production. His insights remain of strategic importance as we navigate the evolving defense landscape and we work toward our long-term sustainability goals. We believe the continuation of his service on the Board is essential to fulfilling our strategic purpose. I would now like to introduce Henriette Hallberg Thygesen. Henriette brings a proven track record in large-scale operational transformation and deep industrial expertise across the aerospace, defense, and global logistics sector. Leveraging her background in applied mathematics and executive leadership, she offers incisive insights into supply chain complexities and digital transformation. Since 2024, Henriette serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Terma A/S, Denmark's
In this role, she leads the company's strategic transformation and its mission to deliver advanced technology solutions across the defense, surveillance, and space sectors. A defining characteristic of Henriette's leadership at Terma is her strategic agility and entrepreneurial approach, navigating an organization where rapid decision-making and decisive action are paramount. Her leadership at Terma follows an impressive long career at A.P. Moller - Maersk, where she held multiple senior executive positions. Most recently, Henriette served as Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Delivery Officer. Her global perspective was forged through leadership roles across Denmark, the United States, China, and Europe, giving her a truly international lens on logistics and operations. The combination of her deep-rooted corporate experience, her entrepreneurial skills, her ability to provide decisive action will be valuable assets to this Board.
If I may ask Henriette to come up and say a few words to this audience, that'd be very good.
Thank you very much for the kind introduction. Dear shareholders, good afternoon. It is truly a great honor and a privilege for me to be asked to join the Airbus Board. We are in challenging and transitioning geopolitical times, and Airbus is in the midst of this, an icon of European industry. Airbus has, over many years, evolved as a global leader in innovation, not just watching the future develop, but actively building it. Europe needs Airbus to connect the world, protecting citizens and accelerating transition. Thus, it is a privilege to be nominated for the Board of Airbus and a commitment I embrace with enthusiasm but also with humbleness. I'm looking very much forward to working with the Chair, the whole Board, and Management, and getting to understand the Airbus business culture and key stakeholders.
With my background in international supply chains, technology, and defense, and indeed experience in leading through accelerated change, then I'm eager to contribute best possible to the continued success of Airbus. Thank you very much for the introduction, and I'm looking forward to the Board adventure. Thank you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, I think we should give her a hand of applause. I mean, the election is yet to come. I'm also pleased to present Oliver Zipse. Oliver is well-known. He doesn't really need an introduction. It is worth noting the remarkable trajectory of his career at BMW. During his time, he has held pivotal leadership positions there in development and production, planning globally, ultimately steering the group through a period of profound transformation as CEO, most notably in the rapid expansion of its electric vehicle program. Oliver brings unparalleled expertise in large-scale industrial transformation and the shift towards sustainable mobility, providing our teams with vital insights into operational excellence and industrial scaling. We are confident that your strategic perspective, Oliver, will be invaluable as we navigate the dual challenges of decarbonization and technological disruption.
Oliver's an engineer by training, but he's also a professor at the Technical University of Munich, so his influence extends beyond the boardroom. His deep-rooted experience in technical planning, including serving as the MD, Managing Director, of the MINI Plant in Oxford some time ago, alongside his roles as President of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association and Deputy Chair in the Senate of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, give him a unique vantage point on the intersection of industrial policy and technological innovation. If I may ask you also on stage to say a few words to the audience. Thank you.
Well, thank you, René, for this very kind introduction. My name is Oliver Zipse. I'm 62 years old, an engineer by education, and I've been serving 35 years for BMW. My tenure there ends as CEO in about four weeks' time. A company which is deeply rooted in Europe, but with a global perspective, that is what BMW is. That is just like Airbus. There are a lot of commonalities between the automotive industry, which had a global perspective, and Airbus. It's all about mobility because mobility connects the world and offers freedom of movement and access to goods, one of the most important things humankind can do. Both industry design and produce very complex, highly integrated systems, combining cutting-edge hardware with software and also digital systems.
We are in front of similar challenges in the field of market conditions, geopolitical developments, and technological advance, including AI, and very specifically Agentic AI. I bring to Airbus leadership experience with a global perspective and a strong focus on team performance. I feel honored and humbled, and I'm delighted to join the Airbus Board of Directors if you elect me, and to contribute to the ongoing success and development of this great company. Thank you.
We're very happy to have convinced you to become a candidate for this Board, Oliver. The next item is more formal. I want to highlight the next item relating to the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. Our company is, as you know, incorporated in the Netherlands and applies the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. We address our compliance with this code in our Board Report. On to the Airbus Dividend Policy, which is probably of more interest to you than the formalities. In 2025, the company strengthened its commitment to increasing shareholder returns. We target sustainable growth in the dividend and keep extending the upper range of the dividend payout ratio from what it used to be, 30%-40%, to now 30%-50%. Guillaume will share how this policy translated into the proposed dividend for the 2025 financial year.
Before handing over to our CEO, Guillaume Faury, I would like to convey the Board's appreciation to our employees, more than 160,000 dedicated employees around the world. I would like to say a big thank you to the Management team under Guillaume's leadership for your dedication, for your super hard work, which led to many achievements, again, in 2025. Finally, I'd like to express our gratitude to you all in this room and beyond, all our shareholders, for your continued trust and engagement. In 2025, we marked the 25th anniversary of the company's stock market listing, 25 years on the stock market, and we look forward to making further progress in the couple of 100 years ahead. Thank you very much. Guillaume?
Thank you, René. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Let me start by thanking you for your continued support and trust in our company. While our focus today is on 2025, we are closely monitoring the evolving situation in the Middle East. Our priority remains the safety and well-being of our staff in the region, and we are providing our teams and their families with the support they need. We are also in close dialogue with our customers and suppliers in the region, working jointly with them to assess and adapt to their specific needs. We are actively monitoring the situation and acting accordingly, and as of today, there is no direct impact on our operations. Now, back to 2025, which was indeed a landmark year characterized by a very strong demand for products and services in both civil and defense.
While we successfully navigated in a complex and dynamic global environment, our primary focus was managing supply chain constraints that created a desynchronization between production and delivery throughout the year. Against this backdrop, the year was marked by both resilience and record financials. In defense, we're observing great momentum, and our broad portfolio is perfectly aligned to fulfill the capability needs. We do this by delivering mission-critical solutions and being the long-term partner of choice for nations worldwide. On the strategic front, we're advancing industrial consolidation with Leonardo and Thales to create a world-class space leader. This initiative is key to achieving the global scale and operational depth required in today's rapidly evolving global market in this domain. In Commercial Aircraft, sustained global demand continues to drive the expansion of our industrial footprint.
A major milestone in this journey was the acquisition of certain Spirit AeroSystems work packages with a closing on the 8th of December, which allowed us to take control of this very important production flow. The A320 panel quality issue that hit us in December was also a significant event that put pressure on our ability to deliver in a so-called back-end loaded year. We took immediate steps to address the challenge, putting a strong focus on quality, and therefore unfortunately impacting 2025 deliveries. We expect the residual operational impact to be limited and spread mainly over the first half of this year. That said, our operations do not function in isolation. While we have secured a critical portion of our trajectory, specific supply chain tensions continue, notably with the engine maker Pratt & Whitney.
On the A320 family, Pratt & Whitney's failure to commit to the number of engines ordered by Airbus is negatively impacting this year's delivery guidance and the ramp-up trajectory. Still, as a consequence, we now expect to reach a rate of between 70 and 70 aircraft a month on the A320 family by the end of 2027, stabilizing at rate 75 thereafter. Even in this context, we delivered on our financial commitments last year. We reached the revised guidance with 793 deliveries. These results demonstrate our collective resilience and our focus on excellence in everything and everyone at Airbus. Now, looking at our strong 2025 financial performance, our EBIT adjusted stood at EUR 7.1 billion, reflecting our commercial aircraft deliveries and the performance at the helicopters and defense & space divisions. This is also reflected in our free cash flow before customer financing, which stood at EUR 4.6 billion.
These results led, as indicated by René, to a record net income of EUR 5.2 billion that supports our 2025 dividend proposal of EUR 3.2 per share. With all that in mind, let's take a closer look at 2025. Starting with our commercial environment in the commercial aircraft business, in 2025, passenger traffic expanded across all regions while air cargo demand remained resilient. This year was another commercially successful year as we booked 1,000 gross orders, with repeat orders and key new customers in both the single-aisle and widebody campaigns. Net orders amounted to 889 aircraft, taking our backlog to year-end record of 8,754 aircraft. On the A220, the ramp-up is ongoing and still paced by the integration of Spirit AeroSystems work packages and the balance between supply and demand.
As we continue to make tactical adjustments on this ramp-up trajectory, we are now targeting a rate of 30 aircraft a month in 2028. Our teams continue to work on the road to reach breakeven on the program, and we remain focused on engine durability improvements while ensuring operational efficiency. That was for the A220. On the A320 family, the ramp-up towards a monthly production rate of 75 aircraft is ongoing. In 2026, we see shortages of engines from Pratt & Whitney, not matching our needs, nor our orders. That will limit our aircraft deliveries, and this is quite disappointing. In 2027, they must significantly step up their deliveries. As a result, we expect to reach rates of between 70 and 75 aircraft a month, as I already said, by the end of 2027, stabilizing at rate 75 thereafter. On the A330, no change.
We target to reach rate five in 2029 to meet customer demand. Finally, on the A350, no change either. We continue to target a rate 12 in 2028, all on the ramp-up. On Helicopters, indeed a great year. We achieved a book-to-bill well above one in units and value, including a strong contribution from the Military segment, as well as good order intake from Services. We notably celebrated orders of 100 Airbus Helicopters by the Spanish Ministry of Defence, and saw Germany reinforcing their commitment with 20 additional H145M, the military version of the 145, last year. On our industrial footprint, we announced the establishment of a new Airbus final assembly line in India to build the single-engine helicopter, the H125 helicopter, in collaboration with Tata Advanced Systems, aiming at capturing the full potential of the civil, parapublic, and military markets in South Asia.
For Defence and Space, 2025 was one more year of record order intake, which stood at EUR 17.7 billion, corresponding to a book-to-bill of around 1.3. This notably includes a contract to build a further 341 OneWeb low Earth orbit, so-called LEO, satellites for Eutelsat, contracts for the very successful A330 MRTT and the MRTT+, the new version, as well as contracts with Spain, including 18 C295s. 2025 was also an excellent year for the Eurofighter program. Notably, we recorded an order for 20 aircraft from Germany, the activation of eight options from Italy, and we also welcomed Türkiye as to the program with 20 aircraft. To meet this growing demand, the program has already announced a first production capacity extension, transitioning from rate 14 up to rate 20 per year.
The success of the division in 2025, of the Defence and Space division, represented the result of our transformation efforts, which ensured an improved performance. Going forward, we remain focused on the division's long-term competitiveness and profitability. On the Future Combat Air System, work is ongoing with the French, German, and Spanish governments to decide on the project's way forward. At Airbus, we continue to believe in the need for Europe to develop new combat air systems, and we intend to play a leading role in that effort. Overall, I want to emphasize the commercial performance of both Airbus Helicopters and Defence and Space that delivered record order intake in value in line with our ambition, presented in June during the Paris Air Show.
Specifically, defense orders, without even adding what comes from the Joint Ventures MBDA and ArianeGroup, without adding this, the defense orders reach more than EUR 20 billion, meaning around +50% upside year-on-year, ensuring robust future growth. At group level, our backlog stood at EUR 619 billion. EUR 619 billion at the end of 2025, including a strong book-to-bill above one for all businesses, as well as the weakening of the U.S. dollar. Now, I take you through our financial performance. Our 2025 revenues increased to EUR 73.4 billion, up 6% year-on-year, mainly reflecting the higher contribution from our divisions, the strong services volumes across all businesses, and a higher level of deliveries, partially offset by the U.S. dollar depreciation in the year.
On research and development, our expenses stood at EUR 3.2 billion in 2025, slightly lower than for 2024, as we continue to benefit from the prioritization of our activities in 2025. Our full year 2025 EBIT adjusted increased to EUR 7.1 billion from EUR 5.4 billion in 2024. Let me remind you that in 2024, after completion of the in-depth technical review of our space programs, we recorded a total charge of EUR 1.3 billion. The higher commercial aircraft deliveries, together with a more favorable hedge rate and a continued benefit from prioritization of our activities, resulting in lower R&D expenses, as I said earlier, were partially offset by the impact of tariffs. It also reflects a stronger performance in both divisions, Helicopters and Defence and Space.
The level of EBIT adjusted total the net negative of EUR 1 billion, mainly related to U.S. dollar working capital mismatch and balance sheet revaluation resulting from the mechanical impact arising from the difference between the transaction date and delivery date, as well as from the integration of the Spirit AeroSystems work packages I already mentioned earlier. Our earnings per share reported was EUR 6.61 using an average of 790 million shares. Our free cash flow before customer financing was EUR 4.6 billion, reflecting the performance across all businesses. Let's now look at our dividend. In 2025, the company strengthened its commitment to increasing shareholder returns, targeting sustainable growth in the dividend and, as explained by René, broadening the range of the dividend payout ratio to 30%-50% coming from 30%-40%. Going 30%-50%.
As mentioned also by René, the Airbus Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting the payment for 2025 of a dividend per share of EUR 3.2 on the 23rd of April 2026, corresponding to a payout ratio of 48% and which represents both the highest dividend per share and the highest absolute dividend paid in the company's history. Now, let's have a look at our share price performance. In early 2025, the market remained volatile, impacted in particular by concerns over the U.S. trade policy. In this period, the main European indexes and the company's share price declined as the market digested the potential impact on global economic growth, inflation, and supply chains, which you can see easily on the graph.
This negative sentiment began then to reverse, first with the U.S. pausing many of the so-called reciprocal tariffs and later with the easing of the U.S.-China trade tensions. Over this period, the company's share price substantially recovered from the decline precipitated by the 2nd of April announcement. The company's share price continued its upward trend following the Q1 2025 result release, which included a positive message on the company's ability to mitigate any direct impact from tariffs. In early summer, the company's share price was supported by positive sentiment around an improved supply chain. This was highlighted at the Paris Air Show and at the Airbus Business Update, as well as by the favorable tailwinds of increased defense spending across Europe.
While the H1 2025 results were received with caution by the market, given how backloaded the delivery profile was, the cautious sentiment did not last long, with an encouraging trend of deliveries over August and September, highlighting strong and consistent underlying monthly production rates. The stronger than expected Q3 2025 financial results and the announcement of the October deliveries further reinforced the market confidence regarding the year-end targets and reflected growing optimism over the midterm outlook. Nevertheless, the sentiment shifted with concerns over precautionary A320 fleet actions and media reports of the A320 family industrial quality issues, coupled with rumors on low November deliveries. While the company's share price dropped in reaction to these developments, the updated 2025 delivery guidance issued on the 3rd of December prompted a slight recovery, with the company's share price remaining stable through to year-end. That's the upward trend all over the year 2025.
Now looking at the 2026 developments. In early 2026, in light with the full year 2025 order and deliveries, the market viewed the year-end rally as a strong performance. Yet amid tensions over Greenland, a weakening dollar, comments on persisting Pratt & Whitney engine delays, as well as the low level of estimated January 2026 deliveries, the Airbus share price declined. Despite the strong 2025 results, the company share price declined on the weaker than expected guidance and a slight trajectory adjustment. With the onset of the Iran War, the company's share price trend continued since. Let me move to our 2026 guidance as issued on the 19th of February earlier this year. As the basis for its 2026 guidance, the company assumes no additional disruptions to global trade or the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, its internal operations, and ability to deliver products and services.
The company's 2026 guidance is before M&A, before Merger and Acquisitions, and includes the impact of currently applicable tariffs. On that basis, the company targets to achieve in 2026, first, around 870 commercial aircraft deliveries. Second, an EBIT adjusted of around EUR 7.5 billion. Third, a free cash flow before customer financing of around EUR 4.5 billion. To conclude, I want to look forward. Our primary focus remains on the ramp-up, with no compromise on the highest standard of quality in everything we do. On defense, our priority is to continue to strengthen our global leading position by leveraging our unique portfolio of products, our international footprint, and activities we have with our partners, in particular in our Joint Ventures in MBDA and ArianeGroup.
It means playing a leading role in the European Future Combat Air System projects, continuing the good momentum on military products and services, as well as strengthening sovereignty in space. We're committed to reinforcing a strong commercial position across all our businesses, continuing our leadership in commercial aircraft, defense, space, and helicopters alike. Finally, we remain committed, as you saw in the video, to leading the future of aerospace with a focus on the next single-aisle generation while we continue to deliver profitable growth. Our vision for the future is guided by our purpose to pioneer sustainable aerospace for a safe and united world. As a summary of our key sustainability highlights last year, let me now share with you a video that captures our main achievements in 2025.
[Presentation]
Guillaume, thank you very much for your presentation and for your hard work, dedication, and these results under very difficult circumstances. It was also a very inspiring video, and it highlights to us all in this room and to the broader audience that sustainability will remain very high on our agenda. Before we listen to Jeroen Vernooij from EY, Airbus' External Auditor for the year 2025, I would like to make the following statements in respect of the Company's and Ernst & Young's, or EY's, legal obligations. For the purpose of this AGM, the Company has waived EY's obligations of confidentiality.
EY has the obligation to correct any materially incorrect statements and/or announcements in relation to the 2025 financial statements or the independent auditor's report, and EY will present the audit process and procedures in relation to the financial statements before adopting the 2025 financial statements contained in the 2025 Board Report. Jeroen, the floor is yours. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Jeroen Vernooij, and I'm representing EY Accountants. I am the statutory auditor of Airbus SE for 2025, and EY was appointed as the Statutory Auditor in 2016. That means that 2025 was a final year of a maximum 10-year term as External Auditor for Airbus. Today, I will briefly cover our audit scope, our audit strategy and execution, and our conclusions. We prepared our audit plan and presented and discussed it with Management and the Audit Committee of Airbus. The plan was based on our understanding of Airbus and its activities, our knowledge obtained from prior year Airbus audits, and all relevant developments in the current economic environment Airbus operates in. Our audit scope for 2025 was consistent with prior years. The scope of our audit includes both company-only and consolidated financial statements.
In addition, based on our knowledge from the financial statement audit, we assessed whether the audit information included in the Annual Report contains all required information and whether it is free from material misstatements. Furthermore, we performed a limited assurance engagement on the Sustainability Statement, which is included in Section 6 of the Report of the Board of Directors. To assess whether the financial statements gives true and fair view, we applied a materiality level of EUR 300 million. This is about 5% of EBIT, a percentage consistent with prior year. A total of 53 operating entities were included in our audit scope, representing 96% of consolidated revenues and EBIT. For entities outside of this specific scope, we performed, amongst others, analytical procedures at Group level. While I am responsible for the Airbus audit, this is clearly a team effort.
I worked with an integrated team based in France and the Netherlands, and we are supported by worldwide component teams with the relevant industry experience. When necessary, we also involved specialists in our audit, including for tax matters, IT specialists, forensic specialists, and valuation experts, for example, in relation to impairment testing. In page three to seven of our audit opinion, we described our focused audit procedures relating to climate and energy transition risk, the risk of fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, and the risk of going concern. Based on these procedures, we have no specific findings to report in relation to these matters. Our audit approach is risk-based. We focus on those areas that are most important for the financial statements, and these matters are described as the key audit matters in our audit opinion in detail.
For Airbus, the key audit matters were revenue recognition, recoverability of key program and long-lived assets, accounting for derivative financial instruments, and hedge effectiveness. We reviewed the underlying processes and controls that are used to account for the programs and challenged management's key assumptions taken into account. We challenged these key assumptions on their impact on valuations and revenue recognition, and these assumptions include the ramp-up of production rates in Airbus commercial programs, the future sales scenarios, and the estimated cost to fulfill contracts. We also looked at the historical accuracy of prior year estimates, and for this year, we have also paid specific attention to the Spirit acquisition and its impact on the above-mentioned assumptions. We evaluated whether these key assumptions and estimates fell within reasonable ranges, and finally, based on our audit procedures and challenges, we agreed with management's conclusions and the accounting and the disclosures thereon.
This brings me to the conclusion of our audit and the end of my presentation. Based on our audit procedures, we concluded that the 2025 financial statements of Airbus gives a true and fair view. Also, we concluded that the audit information in the annual report contains the required information and is consistent with the financial statements and does not contain material misstatements. Third, from our review procedures on the sustainability statement, we have not found material errors. Thank you for your attention.
Thank you so much, Jeroen. I should take the opportunity on the stage here to say thank you for 10 years of excellent cooperation, trustful, always a bit painful, but that's how it should be, open, constructive, in these very tough times where things from FCPA compliance to COVID-related topics, to managing difficult other issues which needed to be cleaned up, and so on. A lot of things came on our plate together, and the cooperation with you was really good, and we want to thank you and Céline and all the other people involved for your hard and good work for us. Thank you so much. With that, it concludes the presentation.