EADS Restructure Forms Airbus Defense & Space, Airbus Helicopters

EADS on Wednesday will change its name to Airbus, after its civil aviation division that accounts for over 70% of its sales, amid a global corporate restructuring, the company said in an official statement.

The name change which will come into effect next year, will reshuffle its space and military units into one division, the company said Wednesday. It also unveiled a 31 percent increase in first-half net profits on the same time last year to 759 million euros ($1 billion).

Under its new organization, a new defense organisation will be created dubbed Airbus Defense & Space, housing the existing military business along with satellite maker Astrium and drone and electronics business Cassidian.

The Eurocopter civil and military helicopter business remains separate in the new organization but is renamed Airbus Helicopters.

EADS chief executive Tom Enders called the changes “an evolution, not a revolution.”

“We affirm the predominance of commercial aeronautics in our group and we restructure and focus our defense and space activities to take costs out, increase profitability and improve our market position,” Enders said in the statement.