EADS CEO dismisses fears on orders, A400M delay

PARIS, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The head of European aerospace group EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dismissed on Monday fears over the company's outlook and a report of a possible further delay to its 20 billion euro A400M military transport plane project.

"We are at the peak of the cycle. Orders have never been so high for Airbus, for Eurocopter and for EADS as a whole. I don't understand where these worries about orders are coming from," EADS CEO Louis Gallois told reporters at a defence industry event outside Paris.

Deutsche Bank analysts on Monday cut their rating on EADS shares to "sell" citing concerns about the impact on the company from the weak dollar and a potentially weaker aircraft market.

Gallois also dismissed a report in German magazine WirtschaftsWoche that the A400M airlifter could face new problems on top of a 6-12 month delay already announced by the company.

"We have made no new evaluation since the original one which led us to predict a 6 to 12 month delay," Gallois said.

"I said that the first flight would be in the summer (of 2008) and I continue to say that," he added. (Reporting by Tim Hepher)