Airbus SAS, the world's largest maker of commercial aircraft, posted a loss last year after delays to the A380 superjumbo jet increased costs and led customers to buy Boeing Co planes, Bloomberg New reported.

Charges for penalty payments to customers, impairment of assets and the impact of a cost-cutting plan will be recognized as early as 2006, producing a loss before interest and tax, Airbus parent European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co said in a statement on January 17. Shares of EADS fell as much as 3.4 percent.

EADS may take additional charges because of the two-year slip in deliveries of the A380 superjumbo, which cost at least US$13.5 billion to develop. The delays have prompted demands from airlines for compensation.

Distracted by the A380, Airbus failed to quickly produce a rival plane to Boeing's 787 and fell behind its US competitor in new orders last year for the first time since 2000.

"The additional charges for the A380 is another piece of bad news for the shares," said Yan Derocles, an analyst at Oddo Securities in Paris who has a "reduce" recommendation on the stock. Derocles called the news "catastrophic."

Shares of Paris- and Munich-based EADS fell as much as 87 euro cents to 24.87 euros (US$32.15), and were down 2.7 percent as of 9:59am in Paris. EADS shares have lost 19 percent over the last 12 months compared with a 30 percent gain for Chicago-based Boeing.

Airbus blames the A380 delays on the complexity of installing 300 miles of wiring in each of the double-decker planes. The wires are bundled in harnesses strung through the aircraft, controlling in-flight entertainment, lights, air conditioning and the plane's operating systems. Airbus let customers customize the systems, making it harder to get the right wire in the right place.

FedEx Corp has already canceled an order for 10 A380 freighters, going with Boeing instead. Other carriers including Emirates, Airbus' biggest customer for the plane, have said they might cancel if there are further delays.

"Additional A380 charges not originally envisaged could apply as well," EADS said yesterday. On the group level, the estimated positive Ebit contributions from other divisions will "roughly balance out the estimated negative Ebit impact of Airbus for 2006," EADS said.