Airbus Group Q1 core earnings fall in "challenging year"

Airbus Group (Swiss: AIR.SW - news) 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 ($567.6 million) as revenue gained 1 percent to 12.183 billion euros. Analysts were predicting core operat