Airbus Group says close to picking final electronics bidder

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus Group is on the verge of selecting a final candidate to buy its defence electronics activities and expects to close a deal by the end of the month, strategy chief Marwan Lahoud said on Tuesday.

It has already whittled down 11 offers to half a dozen and expects to make a final selection "within hours", he told a news briefing, adding that this could mean 24, 48, 72 or 96 hours.

The sale is part of a plan by Airbus to dispose of assets with combined revenues of around 2 billion euros ($2.18 billion), following a strategic decision to focus on civil and military aeronautical and space assets in the face of low defence spending in Europe.

It lacks the scale of rivals in defence electronics.

Airbus Group Chief Executive Tom Enders told the same end-year briefing that Europe's largest planemaker stood by the struggling A380 superjumbo and hoped to sell more of them, but he ruled out an imminent decision on a possible upgrade.

Airbus continues to talk to Dubai's Emirates about its request for a re-engined version of the world's biggest jetliner, with industry sources pencilling in next July's Farnborough Airshow for a possible launch of the A380neo.

But Enders said the group would not build an aircraft for only one airline and that any business case must provide for robust margins on the jet, which is breaking even this year.

"Already more than a year ago, I established clear criteria for the A380neo: we need a clear business case to be met and we want more than one customer, and we are looking at that in cold blood," he said.

"This is not going to be an emotional decision; we are building these aircraft for customers who want these aircraft and are willing to pay a good price for these aircraft."

Enders said Airbus may miss its target of 15 A350 deliveries this year by one aircraft, because of problems with the supply of cabin equipment.

France's Zodiac Aerospace later confirmed it was behind schedule in delivering toilets for Europe's newest passenger jet.

But it ruled out a repeat of a year-long crisis over delays in the delivery of aircraft seats that disrupted deliveries at both Airbus and Boeing, saying the latest hitch would take "a few months" to resolve.

Airbus said in October it was on track to meet its delivery targets despite delays at cabin suppliers.

For 2016, Enders said Airbus Group would focus on the challenges of ramping up production of its revamped A320neo and achieving a four-fold boost in output for the A350.

($1 = 0.9160 euros)

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by James Regan and Susan Thomas)