A view inside the fuselage of a Bombardier Challenger aircraft under construction is shown at Bombardier's Challenger manufacturing plant in Montreal, Wednesday, April 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – Bombardier Inc. boosted sales on the back of soaring plane deliveries last quarter, allowing it to forecast even higher earnings for the coming year after a surge in profits over the past 12 months.
On Thursday, the business jet maker reported net income of US$445 million in 2023, compared with a net loss of US$148 million the year before.
The company churned out 138 of its Global and Challenger planes last year, more than 40 per cent of them in the fourth quarter alone. The total marks its biggest tally since before Bombardier streamlined its business to become a pure-play private jet manufacturer.
“Our Global aircraft broke many speed records in 2023, but those were not the only records we set last year. Our team came together to deliver the highest revenues and earnings, record aftermarket revenue and the highest deliveries since we refocused our business in 2021,” said CEO Éric Martel.
“Today, we are marching ahead with confidence. Our 2024 guidance reflects the path of continuous growth we have been on for the past three years.”
For the coming year, Bombardier forecast between 150 and 155 deliveries. It also predicted full-year revenues of between US$8.4 billion and US$8.6 billion. That target sits well above last year’s US$8-billion revenue, which in turn marked an increase of 16 per cent from 2022.
Martel’s optimism comes despite sagging business jet activity across the globe. Business jet departures decreased by about four per cent last month versus January 2023, while cruising 16 per cent above 2019 totals, according to aviation tracker WingX.
Use of private planes has plateaued since the pandemic highs of 2021 – though it remains well beyond pre-pandemic levels – while mass air travel comes roaring back.
That slower pace left Bombardier’s multi-year backlog at US$14.2 billion, four per cent smaller than its US$14.8 billion backlog from a year earlier. The company’s full-year book-to-bill – the ratio of orders received to deliveries billed, a key indicator of near-term demand – held steady at one.
Greater jet purchases and aftermarket work – maintenance and repair, for example – helped propel Bombardier’s revenues to US$3.06 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31, a 15 per cent leap from US$2.66 billion in the same period the year before.
The manufacturer also continued to lighten its still-heavy debt load, paying down US$400 million throughout 2023 to reduce its adjusted net debt to earnings ratio to 3.3. The number marks a 28 per cent improvement from 2022 and comes closer to the generally accepted target of three or lower.
Bombardier reported that fourth-quarter profit fell by 11 per cent to US$215 million from US$241 million in the same three months a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned US$1.37 per share in the quarter, down from an adjusted profit of US$2.10 per share a year earlier and roughly in line with analyst expectations, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BBD.B)
