Thursday, March 2, 2017

Bombardier ponders next new aircraft

Bombardier has years to go on its turnaround plan, but the Canadian manufacturer is far enough along to begin thinking of its next new aircraft, president and CEO Alain Bellemare said at the US Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 Aviation Summit March 2.

Bellemare said the company still did not know whether the next platform would be a commercial air transport or business jet, but the “good news” is consideration of some aerospace platform is underway, he told the conference in Washington DC.

“Now that we’ve moved into a different place from a financial perspective, we are starting to think what we will be doing next on the aerospace side,” he said. “But the good news is we are in a pivot and we will keep on spending and developing new programs.”

Bellemare reiterated what he has told financial analysts and stock investors in December, which was Bombardier is on track to exceed revenues of $25 billion in 2020. That compares with more than $16 billion now. “The story is shifting, we’re becoming a growth business,” he asserted at the summit.

At the investor briefing in December, Bombardier said that beginning in 2019, once the ultra-long-range Global 7000 is in service, it will set aside a $1 billion-a-year for product development.

Analysts seem to be giving Bombardier the benefit of the doubt on such assertions, especially as fiscal 2016 results were in line with expectations and 2017 forecasts look achievable.

“We think the segment targets in the near term are achievable, although risks remain,” JPMorgan analysts said Feb. 17. “CSeries demand and program execution remain focal points, while legacy business jet demand and Global 7000 development are outstanding risks. Execution is improving, though, and near-term liquidity concerns have faded, though Bombardier still has a significant amount of debt to refinance longer term.” 


(Michael Bruno - Aviation Week / ATWOnline News)

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