Airbus Group first-quarter core earnings fall in 'challenging year'

Airbus Group on Thursday posted slightly higher-than-expected core profit and reaffirmed targets for the year, while warning of serious challenges for its A400M military plane and reporting a heavy drain on cash due to delayed jet deliveries. Widely watched operating earnings before one-off items at Europe's largest aerospace group fell 23 percent to 501 million euros (390 million pounds) as revenue gained 1 percent to 12.183 billion euros. Analysts were predicting core operating earnings before