Airbus shares fall as CEO warns of turbulent times ahead

[October 09, 2017]  PARIS (Reuters) - Shares in Airbus fell on Monday, with traders attributing the decline to comments from the company's chief executive who had warned of turbulent times ahead for the European planemaker.

Airbus Group Chief Executive Tom Enders speaks during a news conference on the aerospace group's annual results, in London, Britain February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Airbus shares, which had hit a record high of 82.25 euros last week, were down 1.7 percent at 79.91 euros by 0702 GMT. The stock was also the worst performer on France's benchmark CAC-40 index, with the CAC up 0.1 percent.

Airbus CEO Tom Enders had called for the support of the company's 130,000 staff and warned of "turbulent and confusing times" amid French and UK fraud and corruption investigations that could lead to large corporate penalties.

Airbus shares remain up by 27 percent so far in 2017, although shares in its rival Boeing are up by around 66 percent.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Laurence Frost and Victoria Bryan)

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