As private flying continues to be in demand, Bombardier reported a higher first-quarter cash burn on Thursday. The Canadian planemaker is building up inventory to support increased production of business jets, with cash burn for the quarter through March at $387 million compared to $247 million in the previous year.
While industry data shows that private flying has been leveling off after years of growth spurred by the pandemic, business jet makers are reporting sustained demand for their aircraft. Bombardier delivered 20 aircraft in the first quarter, putting it on track to handover 150 to 155 jets this year. Despite this, revenue declined by 12% to $1.3 billion due to the delivery of less pricier aircraft. However, orders for Bombardier’s jets rose by 60% in the first quarter, pushing the company’s backlog to $14.9 billion.
Revenue from Bombardier’s services business also increased by 13% to $477 million in the quarter. However, quarterly profit fell from $302 million in the previous year to $110 million. On a per share basis, adjusted profit was 36 cents compared with $1.06 a year earlier. (Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal and Abhijith Ganapavaram and Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)