Bombardier Wins New C Series Agreement to End Sales Drought

(Bloomberg) -- Bombardier Inc. won the first major sales agreement in 18 months for its beleaguered C Series jet, as it prepares to hand control of the aircraft program to Airbus SE.

An unidentified European customer intends to buy 31 of the all-new planes with options for 30 more, Bombardier said Thursday as it reported earnings. That softened the blow from a cut to the company’s forecast for C Series deliveries this year.

The preliminary deal underscores the brighter outlook for the C Series after production delays and cost overruns marred Bombardier’s $6 billion investment and forced the company to rely on government assistance. Airbus agreed to take a majority stake in the partnership that builds the plane, vowing to cut production costs, win thousands of new orders and move some manufacturing to Alabama to sidestep recently imposed U.S. tariffs on the aircraft.

“This order is definitely getting the market’s attention,’’ said Nick Heymann, an analyst at William Blair & Co. “Their ability to bring home the big orders has been enhanced by the Airbus partnership. People are starting to understand this deal with Airbus has completely changed the market.’’

Bombardier’s widely traded B shares advanced 5.8 percent to C$2.94 at 11:09 a.m. in Toronto after gaining as much as 6.1 percent for the biggest increase since the Airbus deal was announced two weeks ago. The stock climbed 28 percent this year through Wednesday, compared with the 4.9 percent increase of Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index.

If the European customer finalizes its intent to purchase C Series planes, the deal would mark the first major sale of the aircraft since Delta Air Lines Inc. agreed to buy 75 of the single-aisle jets in April 2016. The only deal since then was a two-plane transaction with Air Tanzania at the end of last year.

Lower Deliveries

The Delta purchase prompted a complaint to the U.S. government by Boeing Co., which said the planes were sold at “absurdly low prices.” In response, the Commerce Department slapped import duties of 300 percent on the C Series, saying Montreal-based Bombardier sold it at less than fair value after receiving illegal government subsidies in Canada.

Bombardier said it would miss this year’s delivery target for the C Series as it grapples with engine delays. Customers will receive only 20 to 22 of the aircraft, down from an earlier plan for about 30, the company said in a statement.

Engine supplier Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp., has been working to overcome durability issues affecting the geared turbofan engines that power the C Series as well as Airbus’s A320neo family of jets. The turbine maker, which reaffirmed its target for 350 to 400 deliveries of the engine this year, is rolling out fixes for the problems.

Because of the delays, Pratt will provide Bombardier with an undisclosed supplier advance starting in the fourth quarter, the Canadian jetmaker said. On a conference call with investors and analysts, Bombardier Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare called the delays “a short-term issue that Pratt is actively addressing.”

Sales Hit

Shipping fewer-than-expected C Series jets will dent annual sales by $300 million to $500 million, Chief Financial Officer John Di Bert said. Airplane manufacturers typically collect the bulk of their payments when clients receive their aircraft.

The engine delays will probably crimp 2018 deliveries as well. While Bombardier previously said it would ship 45 to 55 C Series jets in 2018, the actual number is apt to be lower, Di Bert said.

“We need a little bit more work with Pratt to figure out the sequence and the scheduling of engines into the next year,’’ Di Bert said. “My expectation is, we will give you guys a number and it will be something like 40-45 when all is said and done.’’

Because Bombardier still incurs losses on every C Series jet, shipping fewer jets actually buoys Bombardier’s short-term profitability, said William Blair’s Heymann.

This year, earnings before interest, taxes and special items will be at least $630 million, at the upper end of the previous forecast range, Bombardier said. Full-year sales will be about $16.3 billion, while the company spends about $1 billion of free cash flow. Bombardier burned through $495 million in cash in the third quarter, compared with $320 million a year earlier.

Meeting Estimates

In the third quarter, Bombardier reported an adjusted loss of 1 cent a share, matching the average of analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue climbed 2.6 percent to $3.84 billion, while analysts had projected $4.13 billion.

Bombardier had $2.81 billion of available short-term capital resources at the end of September, down from $4.48 billion at the end of last year. The most-recent figure includes $1.84 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Adjusted debt was $9.4 billion.

The company spent the last decade developing the C Series, a two-airplane family offering 108 to 160 seats. The larger of the models overlaps with the smallest commercial jets sold by Airbus and Boeing Co.

The C Series entered commercial service last year at Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s Swiss International unit. The CS100 model has a catalog price of $79.5 million, before the discounts that are customary for aircraft purchases. The CS300 lists at $89.5 million.

New Order

Bombardier expects to conclude its agreement with the European buyer by year-end. The firm order would have a list value of about $2.4 billion.

Excluding the deal announced today, Bombardier has amassed 360 firm orders for the C Series, with a majority of the commitments involving the CS300. With a “number of very active campaigns’’ under way, Bellemare said Thursday he’s optimistic about the program’s future.

Airbus’s arrival “is clearly helping us to accelerate the sales momentum’’ for the jet, the CEO said on the call.

Bombardier now controls about 63 percent of the limited partnership that builds the C Series, CFO Di Bert said. Bombardier’s partner, the province of Quebec, originally held a 49.5 percent stake after investing $1 billion in the venture last year. After the Airbus deal closes, Bombardier will own about 31 percent, Quebec about 19 percent, and Airbus 50.01 percent. The new partnership was announced Oct. 16 and is expected to close in the second half of next year.

Bombardier’s deal with Airbus “creates much greater certainty around the ultimate value Bombardier will realize on the program, as well as the path to positive cash flow for the program in 2020 and beyond,” Cameron Doerksen, a National Bank Financial analyst in Montreal, said Thursday in a note to clients.

To contact the reporter on this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Susan Warren

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