(Montreal) Under the wing of a new logo, Bombardier reported Thursday growth in its order book in the first quarter even as global demand for business jets slowed.
The company increased its first quarter order backlog by 5% year-over-year to US$14.9 billion. A key indicator of short-term demand for a company’s products – the ratio of orders received to shipments invoiced – rose to 1.6.
The upbeat figures contrast with a year-over-year revenue decline of 12% to US$1.28 billion in the quarter ended March 31, below analysts’ expectations.
The decline was partly explained by lower-than-expected aircraft deliveries in the quarter – 20 compared to 22 a year earlier – but President and CEO Éric Martel said the figure was in line with with the objectives for 2024, which are to deliver between 150 and 155 aircraft throughout the year. Last year, about 40% of its new planes landed with customers in the final quarter.
“We are seeing a lot of activity around the Global family,” he said, referring to the larger of the two series of aircraft produced by the Montreal company. The Challenger is the other, after Bombardier delivered the last of its Learjets in 2022.
“While we continue to need more working capital investment in the near term, we will be well positioned in the second half and well beyond,” Mr. Martel told analysts on a conference call THURSDAY.
Bombardier’s stock price was up $4.10, or more than 7 percent, at $61.10 late Thursday morning.
Mr. Martel’s remarks come a day after the more than 80-year-old company unveiled a new logo to mark its shift from a former rail and commercial aviation giant to a company purely specializing in business jets.
“We went from a large industrial footprint with many companies and product lines to a streamlined, cleaner, greener, focused and state-of-the-art space,” Martel said.
Dubbed Bombardier’s Mach, the black-and-white symbol depicts the stylized silhouette of an aircraft breaking the sound barrier, “while gusts of wind above one wing evoke the company’s heritage.” says Bombardier.
Last year, the company flew its upcoming Global 8000 ultra-long-range aircraft at Mach 1 – the speed of sound, or about 1,235 km/h – a first in business aviation, a- she indicated.
On Thursday, the company reported a first-quarter profit of US$110 million, down from US$302 million a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Bombardier says it earned 36 US cents per share, down from adjusted earnings of US$1.06 per share a year earlier. But that figure beat analysts’ expectations of 28 US cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
Company in this dispatch: Bombardier (TSX: BBD. B)
reference: www.lapresse.ca