Bombardier’s first quarter revenue slips on lower aircraft sales

Canadian aerospace manufacturer Bombardier announced financial results for first quarter of 2024 reporting 12% year-over-year decline in revenue to $1.3bn from $1.4bn same period last year owing to a decline in deliveries of large aircraft.

Further revenue breakdown showed contribution of $795m from manufacturing segment, down 22%YoY from $1bn. Bombardier delivered 12 medium and eight large aircraft during the period under review compared to eight and 14 in the same quarter last year.

On the other hand, the company’s first quarter services revenue grew 13%YoY from to $477m from $424m last year.

Despite lower revenue from manufacturing segment, Bombardier’s orders remained strong across the aircraft portfolio, recording a 60% increase to a unit book-to-bill of 1.6. The backlog also increased by $700m to $14.9bn.

“Our team came flying out of the gates in 2024 on soaring aircraft orders and service revenues. The unit book-to-bill of 1.6 and $700m backlog increase are even more meaningful when you take stock of solid activity across traditional customers, fleets and new opportunities materialising for Bombardier Defense,” said Éric Martel, president and CEO, Bombardier.

Lower revenues translated into diluted earnings per share of $1.02 compared to $3.1 in same period last year despite higher adjusted EBIDTA margin of 16% (from 14.6% last year).

The company said that it is making progress on debt reduction with a $100m debt redemption announced on March 14th and closed on April 15th, 2024, using cash from its balance sheet.

Earlier this month, Bombardier announced the successful closing of a new issuance of $750m aggregate principal of Senior Notes due 2031, with a rate of 7.25% per annum and were sold at 99.75% of par. The company plans to use these funds to repay existing outstanding debt.

Bombardier is targeting 150-155 business jet deliveries while growing revenue by $400-600m to $8.6bn from 2023’s $8bn in 2024.