=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2006/05/08/financial/= f081102D92.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, May 8, 2006 (AP) EADS Shares Rise on Airbus A350 Redesign (05-08) 08:11 PDT PARIS, France (AP) -- Shares in European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. rose Monday after Merrill Lynch upgraded its rating on the stock, citing expectations that its civil jet unit Airbus will announce a redesign of its mid-sized A350 plane. The investment bank raised its EADS rating to "buy" from "neutral" in a report to investors Monday, saying the stock's recent decline reflected heavy criticism of the planned jet. "We believe that Airbus will launch an all-new A350 this summer," the report said, "leapfrogging the Boeing 787." EADS shares rose 1.9 percent higher to 30.94 euros ($39.26) amid low-volume Paris trading on Monday, a public holiday in France. The defense company owns an 80 percent stake in Airbus and is negotiating the purchase of the remaining 20 percent from BAE Systems PLC. Flight International magazine also reported Monday that Airbus is planni= ng to announce radical changes to its planned A350 models, including a wider fuselage. Larger wings and more powerful engines are also planned, to support a new A350-1000 variant of the plane that will compete directly with Boeing Co.'s long-range, twin-engine 777-300ER, according to a report on the magazine's web site. Citing internal company documents, the report said Airbus calculates that the new design would burn 20 percent less fuel per passenger than the Boeing plane. Airbus officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Chief Executive Gustav Humbert recently said Airbus was considering changes to the plane after strong criticism from airlines and jet leasing companies including International Lease Finance Corp. The negative comments about the A350 were widely seen as contributing to= a slide of more than 13 percent in the price of EADS shares since April 3. The smaller A350-900 is already two years behind the rival Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is due to enter service in 2008. Flight International said the planned changes would postpone the first deliveries of the A350-900 until 2012 at the earliest, followed by the A350-800 and A350-1000 variants in 2013-14. -------------------------------= --------------------------------------- Copyright 2006 AP