By Bradley Perrett, European aerospace & defence correspondent SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - EADS (EAD)(EAD) affiliate Airbus SAS said on Wednesday it was cautiously optimistic about delivering some 300 planes in 2003, the same level as this year. The company had financed an order for 10 A340 airliners that Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd [VA.UL] reconfirmed last week, Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard told reporters at the Singapore air show. Airbus's financial exposure to completed aircraft, a matter that has concerned analysts and investors, was now 3.7 billion euros, he said. The current crisis in the industry would not lead it to rise as far as an earlier peak of around seven billion euros. That crisis has led to Airbus cancelling plans to ramp up production in 2002 and 2003, but the company said on Wednesday it would at least maintain about the same rate of output it achieved in 2001. "We see about 300 deliveries in 2002 and for 2003 we will assess the situation in the second quarter," Forgeard said. "We are cautiously optimistic (about keeping) the production at the same level of about 300." FINANCIAL EXPOSURE When airline profitability evaporated after the September 11 attacks, some analysts and investors wondered whether Airbus and U.S. rival Boeing Co (BA) would spend huge sums on financing aircraft that distressed customers had ordered but would be unable to pay for. While Airbus has a backlog of more than 1,500 airliners, the catalogue value of just five of them can be as much as $1 billion -- so the potential to chew up capital in financing deliveries is colossal. But Forgeard said Airbus's financial exposure to completed aircraft had not risen between September 11 and the end of last year. "We are below four billion (euros in exposure) -- in fact, precisely 3.7 billion," he said. "We have made a continuous effort to reduce this exposure for four years," the chief executive added. "In 2002 we will see an increase in the exposure." But it would not get back to its level of four years ago, seven billion euros, he said. European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co NV, based in France and Germany, owns 80 percent of Airbus. British defence contractor BAE Systems Plc (BA) owns the rest. VIRGIN FINANCE Virgin Atlantic, part owned by Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIAL), announced last week it was proceeding with a previously doubtful order for 10 A340-600 wide-bodies worth $1.9 billion before the inevitable discounting. The airline said at the time that Airbus had arranged finance for the order, but Forgeard went further on Wednesday, saying his company had itself financed it. "Yes indeed we have financed the deliveries," Forgeard said. "In the contract signed by Airbus five years ago there was a financing commitment which Virgin (could invoke) at the time of the delivery." And Virgin had not got better pricing in the negotiation, he added, emphasising a statement Airbus made last week.