Airbus, struggling with cost overruns on its star A380 superjumbo project and delays with its A400M military plane, made an operating loss of 881 million euros, worse than the loss of 572 million euros in 2006.

“2007 was a tough year with many high profile challenges to be overcome,” said EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois, reflecting on the worst ever results for Airbus.

EADS reported a net loss of 446 million euros for 2007, following a collapse in its profits in 2006, but the giant aerospace and defence group forecast a return to profitability this year.

Operating profits as represented by earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were forecast to be 1.8 billion euros against just 52 million in 2007.

Sales are expected to rise to “above 40 billion euros” against 39.1 billion euros in 2007.

Shares in the company plunged by nearly 5.0 per cent on the Paris stock exchange, with some analysts saying the forecast for this year was weak.