EADS on Monday posted better than expected first-quarter operating profits, but the Franco-German aerospace group's shareholders appear no closer to agreeing a successor at Airbus, its 80-per-cent-owned aircraft division.

With the group's annual meeting set for Wednesday, the date by which the company had hoped to name the new Airbus chief executive, people close to EADS shareholders said investors remained divided over how to balance French and German interests in management.