European Aeronautic Defence & Space, parent of planemaker Airbus, said second-quarter profit fell 85 percent because of the cost of delays on the A380 superjumbo jet and redesigns of the A350 model.

Net income fell to EUR81 million from EUR534 million a year earlier, Munich and Paris-based EADS said in a statement on July 26. Airbus is two years late on the 555-seat A380 because of improperly installed wiring, and is pushing to keep a pledge to deliver the first of the model to Singapore Airlines by October. A reworking of the 300-seat A350, a challenger to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, won EADS' go-ahead in December and has gathered increased orders after Airbus responded to customer demands for more advanced technology.

"The mix of opportunities and risks underlying the guidance is evolving," EADS said. "While the strong underlying operational performance across businesses, particularly at Airbus, is providing cause for satisfaction, the risk level on certain key programs would make it imprudent to change guidance in the present context."

The A400M military transport plane is running late, EADS said. The group of companies building the engine for the plane is "critically late," it said adding there is "material risk on the overall time schedule."

The engine is being built by Europrop International, a group that includes Safran's Snecma unit, Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines Holding and Spain's ITP.

Shares of EADS have fallen 12 percent this year compared with Boeing's 21 percent gain to a record.

Airbus, the biggest maker of commercial aircraft, overtook Chicago-based Boeing on new orders in the first six months of 2007 following the Paris Air Show in June, after trailing by a 2-to-1 margin in the five months through May.

The Toulouse, France-based planemaker won 425 orders at the show, including sales contracts for 132 A350s. Customers have been favoring Boeing's competing 787, which enters fleets next year. The A350 is scheduled to begin commercial service in 2013.

Airbus' firm orders in the first half of the year totaled 680 planes compared with 544 at Boeing. Airbus' deliveries in the second quarter declined 1.7 percent to 116 planes.

Airliners account for about two-thirds of revenue at EADS, which also makes helicopters, rocket launchers, satellites and missiles. Co-chief executive Louis Gallois is seeking to slash spending and boost production.