Business jet buoy Bombardier bottom line
By Sandra Arnoult, ATW Online | Mar. 30, 2006
Bombardier Aerospace reported earnings before interest and taxes of $107 million for the fourth fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, up 25.9% from $85 million in the year-ago quarter.
For FY06 the company posted EBIT of $266 million, a rise of 31% from the $203 million earned in FY05. More than half of the 101 aircraft delivered during the quarter were business jets, with regional aircraft accounting for 44 deliveries. It delivered 108 aircraft in the same period last year. "We dealt with the changing business environment," said Bombardier Chairman and CEO Laurent Beaudoin. "In Aerospace, we adjusted our production rates to match the increased demand for our business jets and turboprop aircraft and lower demand for 50-seat regional jets." Overall, Bombardier earned $249 million in FY06 compared to a loss of $85 million the previous year.
At Jan. 31, the airframer had a firm order backlog worth $10.7 billion compared to $10.2 billion on the same date last year. Company officials attributed this to increased demand for business and turboprop aircraft offset partially by a declining order backlog for the CRJ series. Bombardier delivered 337 aircraft for the full year ended Jan. 31, up from 329 in 2005. It expects to deliver about 337 aircraft this year.
Bombardier Aerospace received 38 net RJ orders in the fourth quarter and 90 for the year, compared to 12 and 133 respectively in the corresponding year-ago periods. FY06 orders included 24 CRJ700s from SkyWest Airlines, 12 CRJ900s from Lufthansa and 10 Q400 turboprops from Porter Airlines.