EADS preparing to quit A400M project - paper

FRANKFURT, Jan 5 (Reuters) - EADS (EAD.PA) is preparing to exit its A400M military transporter programme amid uncertainty over further support from NATO buyers, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) cited company sources as saying Thomas Enders, the CEO of EADS' Airbus aircraft division, was very sceptical an agreement with a group of seven European NATO buyers over additional payments of 5.3 billion euros ($7.58 billion) could be reached by end-January.
The sources put the odds of an agreement at 50 percent, according to the newspaper.
FTD also said that Enders told top managers at the end of December that he no longer believed in a "successful continuation of the programme".
The A400M's inaugural first flight last month was two years behind schedule following delays in engine software development and other snags. EADS has asked the buyers to come up with funds for increased production costs, but Germany has until now ruled out making concessions either on volume or price.
Over the weekend, Enders had in an interview with German newspaper Die Welt pushed for a resolution of the matter.
"We have had standstill long enough. Now it is time for some movement, one way or the other," he had said, adding that he could not justify putting his company and its civil programmes at risk with this defence programme.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by John Stonestreet)