The Gulf state of Qatar on Monday affirmed its interest in taking a stake of up to 10 per cent in EADS, the European defence and aerospace group which has been pummelled by problems at its Airbus unit, Reuters reports. The remark by Qatar’s foreign minister helped pull EADS shares off four-month lows on Monday following a big drop in 2006 profits on Friday as the group took a €2.5bn charge for delivery problems for the A380 superjumbo. The troubles at Airbus have led to speculation EADS will seek fresh capital, potentially allowing in new investors such as Qatar or Dubai, or allowing Russia’s VTB Bank to increase its existing 5 per cent stake. Qatari foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim al-Thani, who also heads the state controlled Qatar Investment Authority, told Reuters in London the idea of acquiring a 10 per cent stake was “still in the very early stages”. He said he wanted to know more about EADS’ plans before making a purchase. The QIA already has an indirect stake in EADS through a share holding in French media group Lagardere, which was one of EADS founding shareholders with a stake of 15 per cent that it is in the process of reducing to 7.5 per cent.
