Bombardier Reports Third Quarter 2016 Results

  • Expects full year profitability(1) at high end of guidance range(2)
  • Significantly improved year-over-year cash performance
  • Reports margin expansion(1) at Business Aircraft, Transportation and Aerostructures
  • Achieves Global 7000 first flight; on track for 2018 entry-into-service

Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) today reported its third quarter 2016 results and highlighted solid performance executing its turnaround plan.

“We continue to gain momentum as we execute our turnaround plan and transform our company,” said Alain Bellemare, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc. “In the third quarter, we again delivered on our financial commitments, we achieved our program milestones and we continued to take the hard actions necessary to improve productivity, reduce costs and optimize our operations.”

With strong year-to-date performance, Bombardier reaffirmed its guidance and announced that it expects to finish the year at the high end of its EBIT guidance, with better operating margins(1) at each of its business units and with significantly improved year-over-year cash performance(2). For the third consecutive quarter, EBIT margins before special items(3) at Transportation, Business Aircraft, and Aerostructures and Engineering Services have exceeded 6%, showing early benefits of the Company’s turnaround plan. Further highlighting the Company’s progress is the recent first flight of the Global 7000; Bombardier’s all new class-defining ultra-long range business jet that is on schedule to enter service in 2018.

“As we close out 2016, we are confident in our strategy, our turnaround plan and in our ability to achieve our 2020 goals,” Bellemare continued. “We remain focused on improving operational efficiency, flawlessly ramping-up our new programs and maintaining a disciplined and proactive approach to deliver value to customers and shareholders in any market environment.”

Bombardier also announced that it will hold an Investor Day meeting on Thursday, December 15, 2016. Hosted by Alain Bellemare, the meeting will include disclosure of guidance for 2017 and presentations by the Company's business segment leaders.

SELECTED RESULTS (PDF)

Bombardier reported consolidated revenues of $3.7 billion in the quarter and $12.0 billion in the nine-month period, following the planned reduction in business aircraft revenues and the deferral of revenue recognition following active project and cash management in Transportation.

EBIT before special items was $87 million and $323 million respectively for the quarter and year-to-date period, as margin improvements at Business Aircraft, Transportation and Aerostructures and Engineering Services were partially offset by the production ramp-up effect of the C Series aircraft program. Free cash flow usage improved by $496 million and $809 million respectively for the quarter and the nine-month period, reflecting continuous cash discipline and lower development spend following the certification of both the CS100 and CS300 aircraft. With the completion of the equity investment by the Government of Québec (through Investissement Québec), Bombardier boasted a strong liquidity position of $4.4 billion as at September 30, 2016.

These results give Bombardier strong confidence in exceeding its profitability targets(1) in all its business segments, leading to a consolidated EBIT before special items guidance between $350 million and $400 million for 2016. The Company is also refining its revenue guidance to approximately $16.5 billion and confirming its consolidated free cash flow usage guidance to the range of $1.15 billion to $1.45 billion, as previously announced, following a revised delivery forecast for the C Series aircraft program as a result of engine delivery delays(2).

SEGMENTED RESULTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Business Aircraft

Results of the Quarter (PDF)

  • For the third consecutive quarter, we had strong delivery performance. In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016, we delivered 109 aircraft and achieved a book-to-bill ratio(5) of 0.8.
  • We realized an EBIT margin before special items of 6.6% for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016, driven by business model enhancements and transformation initiatives.
  • Based on results to date, we are increasing guidance for the year to revenues of approximately $5.5 billion, over 150 deliveries, and EBIT margin before special items greater than 6%(2).

Commercial Aircraft

Results of the Quarter (PDF)

  • On July 11, 2016, the CS300 aircraft obtained its type certification from Transport Canada (TC). Our focus now is improving efficiency while ramping up to full production, continuing to increase our order backlog, delivering the C Series aircraft and providing customer support.
  • Following the first CS100 aircraft delivery to launch operator Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) on June 29, 2016, the aircraft achieved a successful entry-into-service on July 15, 2016 with its maiden commercial flight taking passengers from Zurich to Paris. SWISS currently has three CS100 aircraft in service.
  • We adjusted the delivery forecast for the C Series aircraft program for the full year, from 15 to 7 aircraft, as a result of engine delivery delays by our supplier Pratt & Whitney. We also updated Commercial Aircraft’s guidance to revenues of approximately $2.7 billion and improved EBIT loss before special items to approximately $450 million, driven by strong cost management(2).

Aerostructures and Engineering Services

Results of the Quarter (PDF)

  • We are revising Aerostructures and Engineering Services revenue guidance to approximately $1.6 billion and EBIT margin before special items guidance to approximately 8% for the full year 2016(2).

Transportation

Results of the Quarter (PDF)

  • Our operational transformation is gaining traction. During the three-month period ended September 30, 2016, the EBIT margin before special items further improved to 7.9%, for an EBIT margin before special items of 6.7% for the nine-month period.
  • Based on results to date, we are increasing profitability guidance(1) for the year to above 6.5% and revising Transportation’s full year revenue guidance for 2016 to approximately $8.0 billion. (2)
  • InnoTrans, the world’s largest fair for transport technology, was held in September 2016 in Berlin, Germany. As an innovation driver, we launched new state-of-the-art mobility solutions such as our TALENT 3 and introduced ourMOVIA Maxx platform concept and OPTIFLO signalling system.
  • In September 2016, we signed contracts with Angel Trains and Abellio Greater Anglia in the U.K. to supply 665AVENTRA vehicles and maintenance services for Abellio’s East Anglia rail franchise. The contracts are valued at a total of approximately $1.2 billion, leading to a book-to-bill ratio(7) of 1.6 for the quarter.
  • In September 2016, we signed a strategic agreement with the Chinese rolling stock manufacturer, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), to expand and deepen our relationship. The agreement establishes a framework to leverage our complementary strengths for selected projects in order to provide additional value to customers, better serve the growing global rail transportation equipment market and support mutual long-term growth objectives. Areas of potential future cooperation include Chinese and international market development and shared manufacturing resources.

About Bombardier

Bombardier is the world’s leading manufacturer of both planes and trains. Looking far ahead while delivering today, Bombardier is evolving mobility worldwide by answering the call for more efficient, sustainable and enjoyable transportation everywhere. Our vehicles, services and, most of all, our employees are what make us a global leader in transportation.

Bombardier is headquartered in Montréal, Canada. Our shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD) and we are listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability North America index. In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, we posted revenues of $18.2 billion. News and information are available at www.bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter@Bombardier.

AVENTRA, Bombardier, CS100, CS300, C Series, Global, Global 7000, MOVIA, OPTIFLO, TALENT and The Evolution of Mobility are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

For Information

Simon Letendre
Senior Advisor, Public Affairs
Bombardier Inc.
+514 861 9481
Patrick Ghoche
Vice President, Investor Relations
Bombardier Inc.
+514 861 5727

The Management’s Discussion and Analysis and the Interim Consolidated Financial Statements are available at ir.bombardier.com.

bps: basis points

nmf: information not meaningful

  1. Defined as EBIT or EBIT margin before special items. Non-GAAP financial measures. See Caution regarding non-GAAP measures at the end of this press release.
  2. Refer to the Forward-looking statements section at the end of this press release and to the 2016 guidance update section of the Corporation's MD&A for more details.
  3. Non-GAAP financial measures. See Caution regarding non-GAAP measures at the end of this press release.
  4. Defined as cash and cash equivalents plus the amount available under the revolving credit facilities.
  5. Defined as net orders received over aircraft deliveries, in units.
  6. Defined as new external orders over external revenues.
  7. Defined as new orders over revenues.

CAUTION REGARDING NON-GAAP MEASURES
This press release is based on reported earnings in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Reference to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) means IFRS, unless indicated otherwise. This press release includes non-GAAP financial measures, including EBIT before special items, EBIT margin before special items, free cash flow and free cash flow usage. These non-GAAP measures are mainly derived from the interim consolidated financial statements but do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. The exclusion of certain items from non-GAAP performance measures does not imply that these items are necessarily non-recurring. From time to time, we may exclude additional items if we believe doing so would result in a more transparent and comparable disclosure. Other entities in our industry may define similarly-named non-GAAP measures differently than we do. In those cases, it may be difficult to compare the performance of those entities to ours based on these similarly-named non-GAAP measures.

Management believes that providing certain non-GAAP performance measures, in addition to IFRS measures, provides users of this presentation and of our interim financial report with enhanced understanding of our results and related trends and increases the transparency and clarity of the core results of our business. For these reasons, a significant number of users of our financial report and of this presentation analyze our results based on these performance measures. For instance, EBIT before special items excludes items that do not reflect our core performance or where their exclusion will assist users in understanding our results for the period. Management believes these measure help users of our financial report and of this press release to better analyze results, enabling better comparability of our results from one period to another and with peers.

Refer to the Non-GAAP financial measures section in Overview in the Corporation’s MD&A for definitions of these metrics and refer below for reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures.

Reconciliations to most comparable IFRS measures (PDF)

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release includes forward-looking statements, which may involve, but are not limited to: statements with respect to the Corporation’s objectives, guidance, targets, goals, priorities, market and strategies, financial position, beliefs, prospects, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions; general economic and business outlook, prospects and trends of an industry; expected growth in demand for products and services; product development, including projected design, characteristics, capacity or performance; expected or scheduled entry-into-service of products and services, orders, deliveries, testing, lead times, certifications and project execution in general; competitive position; the expected impact of the legislative and regulatory environment and legal proceedings on the Corporation’s business and operations; available liquidities and ongoing review of strategic and financial alternatives; the effects of the investment by the Government of Québec in the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (the C Series Investment) and of the private placement of a minority stake in Transportation by the CDPQ (the CDPQ Investment and, with the C Series Investment, the Investments) on the range of options available to us, including regarding our participation in future industry consolidation; the capital and governance structure of the Transportation segment following the CDPQ Investment, and of the Commercial Aircraft segment following the C Series Investment; the impact and expected benefits of the Investments on our operations, infrastructure, opportunities, financial condition, access to capital and overall strategy; and the impact of the Investments on our balance sheet and liquidity position.

Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “plan”, “foresee”, “believe”, “continue”, “maintain” or “align”, the negative of these terms, variations of them or similar terminology. By their nature, forward-looking statements require management to make assumptions and are subject to important known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecast results set forth in forward-looking statements. While management considers these assumptions to be reasonable and appropriate based on information currently available, there is risk that they may not be accurate.

Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, risks associated with general economic conditions, risks associated with our business environment (such as risks associated with the financial condition of the airline industry, business aircraft customers, and of the rail industry; trade policy; increased competition; political instability and force majeure), operational risks (such as risks related to developing new products and services; development of new business; the certification and homologation of products and services; fixed-price and fixed-term commitments and production and project execution; pressures on cash flows based on project-cycle fluctuations and seasonality; our ability to successfully implement and execute our strategy and transformation plan; doing business with partners; product performance warranty and casualty claim losses; regulatory and legal proceedings; the environment; dependence on certain customers and suppliers; human resources; reliance on information systems; reliance on and protection of intellectual property rights; and adequacy of insurance coverage), financing risks (such as risks related to liquidity and access to capital markets; retirement benefit plan risk; exposure to credit risk; substantial existing debt and interest payment requirements; certain restrictive debt covenants; financing support provided for the benefit of certain customers; and reliance on government support), market risks (such as risks related to foreign currency fluctuations; changing interest rates; decreases in residual values; increases in commodity prices; and inflation rate fluctuations). For more details, see the Risks and uncertainties section in Other in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) of the Corporation’s financial report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. For additional information with respect to the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this press release, refer to the Guidance and forward-looking statements sections in the MD&A of the Corporation’s financial report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future growth, results and performance is not exhaustive and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth herein reflect management’s expectations as at the date of this press release and are subject to change after such date. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation expressly disclaims any intention, and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.