EADS Cruising high

Healthy air traffic is putting a smile on the faces of EADS’ managers. The Franco-German defence and aeronautics group delivered more passenger planes than expected in the first nine months of this year. This encouraged the company to lift its earnings guidance for 2005. Airbus’ order book is also filling up nicely and its forthcoming A380 mega jumbo jet looks like a serious challenger to Boeing’s B747. So why are EADS’ shares trading at a discount? One of the group’s biggest problems is its hi...