Bombardier Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2016 Results
February 16, 2017 Montréal
Consolidated earnings and cash performance(1) exceeded 2016 guidance
Full-year margin(1) targets exceeded at Transportation, Business and Commercial Aircraft
All new program milestones met; CS100 and CS300 in service, Global 7000 in flight testing
2017 guidance affirmed, on track to achieve all 2018 and 2020 targets
Liquidity(2) secured, turnaround plan in full motion
Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) today reported its fourth quarter and full year 2016 results. The Company also affirmed its guidance for 2017 and highlighted another quarter of solid performance as it executes its turnaround plan.
"Our turnaround plan is in full motion," said Alain Bellemare, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc. "In 2016, Bombardier delivered on its financial commitments. We met our program milestones and we've positioned the Company to achieve all of the financial goals in our five-year turnaround plan, including being cash flow break-even in 2018."
On a consolidated basis, Bombardier exceeded its 2016 guidance range for EBIT before special items(3); improved its year-over-year cash performance by $778 million; and delivered approximately 200 basis points of margin improvement at its Transportation, Business Aircraft and Aerostructures segments. With the successful refinancing of $1.4 billion of senior notes in the fourth quarter, the Company also successfully completed the de-risking phase of its turnaround plan in 2016, securing the liquidity necessary to fully execute the final two phases of the plan: building earnings and cash flow and de-leveraging its balance sheet.
Further highlighting the Company's progress in the fourth quarter was the successful entry-into-service of the CS300 aircraft with airBaltic, which followed the strong performance of the CS100 aircraft with SWISS since starting commercial operations over six months ago. Bombardier's all-new, class-defining, ultra-long range business jet, the Global 7000, also began flight testing in the fourth quarter and remains on schedule to enter service in the second half of 2018.
"As we begin 2017, we are confident in our strategy, our turnaround plan and in our ability to unleash the full value of the Bombardier portfolio," 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."
For 2017, as per guidance introduced in December 2016, the Company expects to resume revenue growth in the low-single digits, driven by an increase in Transportation revenues and an acceleration of C Series aircraft deliveries. EBIT before special items for 2017 is forecast to increase by 35% at the mid-point of the $530 million to $630 million range, with margins improving across all business segments. Free cash flow usage should continue to improve by up to $300 million, falling in the range of $750 million to $1.0 billion as the Company continues to come down the learning curve on the C Series aircraft.
Selected results (PDF)
SEGMENTED RESULTS AND HIGHLIGHTS
Results (PDF)
Business Aircraft's 2016 financial performance exceeded guidance on all fronts, delivering a total of 163 aircraft, while reaching revenues of $5.7 billion and EBIT margins before special items of 6.4%, a 200-basis point improvement over the prior year.
Financial results for 2016 demonstrated our continued focus on driving sustainable margin expansion through increasing production efficiency, transforming our cost structure, improving our production agility and the enhancement to our pre-owned aircraft business.
We also made significant progress on the development of the Global 7000 and Global 8000 aircraft program, setting the standard for a new category of large business jets. We successfully completed, on November 4, 2016, the maiden flight of the first Global 7000 FTV, dedicated to testing basic system functionality and assessing the handling and flying qualities of the aircraft. The Global 7000 aircraft is the first and only clean-sheet business jet with four living spaces. Engineered with a next-generation transonic wing design, the aircraft offers a steep approach capability and short field performance, coupled with highly efficient engines, the largest cabin in this category and a highly advanced cockpit.(5)
Commercial aircraft's financial performance for 2016 was marked by the production ramp-up and the start of the revenue-generating phase of the C Series aircraft program. Revenues and deliveries were in line with guidance. The EBIT loss compares favourably relative to guidance, stemming from strong execution while ramping up production and cost control during the initial months following EIS and supported by the reliability of the aircraft in service. Our focus is now on improving efficiency while ramping up to full production, continuing to increase our order backlog, delivering the C Series aircraft and providing customer support.
Commercial Aircraft reached a historic milestone in 2016 as it certified and brought to market both variants of the C Series aircraft, the first all-new clean-sheet designed family of single-aisle aircraft in the 100- to 150-seat segment in nearly 30 years. With a total of seven aircraft delivered by year end, both the CS100 and CS300 aircraft are delivering on their operating cost advantage, superior operating flexibility, exceptional performance and range, as well as passenger comfort.
During the year, significant orders solidified the C Series aircraft program in the 100- to 150-seat category. A total of 129 firm orders and 80 options were added to the backlog, from Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, airBaltic and Air Tanzania, with a combined value of $10.1 billion at list prices.
During the year, we closed the $1.0-billion equity investment by the Government of Québec (through Investissement Québec) in return for a 49.5% equity stake in a newly-created limited partnership, the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership (CSALP), which carries on the operations related to our C Series aircraft program and continues to be consolidated in our financial results.
Aerostructures and Engineering Services
We achieved revenue and profitability(1) in line with guidance for 2016. Margin expansion was driven by strong execution of our transformation initiatives, aiming to optimize our operations.
Bombardier Transportation
Our operational transformation is gaining traction. During 2016, the EBIT margin before special items of 7.4% exceeded our guidance. Our 2016 revenues of $7.6 billion are lower than guidance, which is mainly attributed to our active project management resulting in the continued deferral of certain revenue under long-term contract accounting.
Strong order intake of $8.5 billion across all product segments and geographic regions led to a book-to-bill ratio of 1.1 for the fiscal year and brought the backlog to $30.1 billion at year end.
On February 11, 2016, we closed the sale to the CDPQ of a $1.5-billion equity investment in convertible shares representing a 30% stake in Bombardier Transportation (Investment) UK Limited (BT Holdco), which, following the completion of a corporate reorganization, owns essentially all of the assets and liabilities of Bombardier's Transportation business segment. BT Holdco continues to be controlled by Bombardier Inc. and consolidated in its results.
Bombardier Inc. uses its website as a channel of distribution for material company information. Financial and other material information regarding Bombardier Inc. is routinely posted on its website and accessible at bombardier.com. Investors are hereby notified information about regular dividends declared and paid by Bombardier is only made available through its website, unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws.
Bombardier, CS100, CS300, C Series, Global, Global 7000 and Global 8000 are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Simon Letendre
Senior Advisor, Media Relations and Public Affairs
Readers are strongly advised to view a more detailed discussion of our results by segment in our Management's Discussion and Analysis and Consolidated financial statements which are posted on our website at ir.bombardier.com.
bps: basis points
nmf: information not meaningful
(1) Earnings, profitability, margin and operating margin refer to EBIT before special items or EBIT margin before special items. Cash performance refers to free cash flow usage. Non-GAAP financial measures. See Caution regarding non-GAAP measures at the end of this press release.
(2) Defined as cash and cash equivalents plus the amount available under the Corporation's revolving credit facilities.
(3) Non-GAAP financial measures. See Caution regarding non-GAAP measures at the end of this press release.
(4) Ratio of net orders received over aircraft deliveries, in units.
(5) See the Global 7000 and Global 8000 aircraft program disclaimer in the MD&A of the Corporation's financial report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.
(6) Ratio of new external orders over external revenues.
(7) Ratio of 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 is also based on non-GAAP financial measures including EBITDA, EBIT before special items and EBITDA before special items, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow. These non-GAAP measures are mainly derived from the consolidated financial statements but do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS; therefore, others using these terms may define them differently. Management believes that providing certain non-GAAP performance measures, in addition to IFRS measures, provides users of our Financial Report with enhanced understanding of our results and related trends and increases the transparency and clarity of the core results of our business. Refer to the Non-GAAP financial measures and Liquidity and capital resources sections in Overview and each reporting segments' Analysis of results sections in the Corporation's MD&A for definitions of these metrics and reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures.
Reconciliations to most comparable IFRS measures (PDF)
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 impact and expected benefits of the investment by the Government of Québec in the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership and of the private placement of a minority stake in Transportation by the CDPQ on our operations, infrastructure, opportunities, financial condition, access to capital and overall strategy; and the impact of such 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", "shall", "can", "expect", "estimate", "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 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 and minimum cash levels; 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, 2016. 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 Overview, Business Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft, Aerostructures and Engineering Services, and Transportation in the MD&A of the Corporation's financial report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.
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.