“The 2022 results we are presenting today are a resoundingly positive culmination of a strong year,” said Bombardier CEO Éric Martel. (Photo: Bombardier)
Recently, Bombardier announced the details of its 2022 financial performance, touting success in all of its set metrics. Aided by strong demand, an increase in aftermarket services, and a strong product mix of various aircraft types, the manufacturer enjoyed a strong 2022 and looks optimistically to the coming years.
Éric Martel, Bombardier’s CEO, demonstrated his enthusiasm for the company’s financial performance when he explained, “The 2022 results we are presenting today are a resoundingly positive culmination of a strong year, and a testament to the team’s effort to execute in the fourth quarter. We exceeded commitments across the board, be it on deliveries, our growing aftermarket business and profitability,”
Bombardier is a major player in the aviation industry. Despite the end of the production of its popular commercial regional jets (Canadian Regional Jets or CRJs) after Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi purchased the program in June 2020, the corporation has an extensive list of business jets it currently offers the market. Most notably is Bombardier’s Challenger Series, which includes the 350, 650, 5500, 6500, and 7500 variants.
In 2022, Bombardier delivered 123 of these aircraft, which contributed to its $6.9 Billion in revenue for the year. This revenue is up 14% from 2022’s levels. In addition to aircraft sales and deliveries, aftermarket services played a significant role in the generation of this revenue. Aftermarket services (which mainly aim to support customers after a completed aircraft sale) include things like assistance in the re-marketing of Bombardier aircraft, assisting startup customers, performing maintenance services, and connecting customers with a worldwide parts network designed to deliver replacement parts to where they are needed quickly.
Bombardier’s high revenue levels are coupled with an equally successful profit. It reported an EBITDA (a metric that examines profitability before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $930 million. This presents a stark increase of 45% from the previous year. With these profits, the company was able to repay $1.1 billion of debt with cash. This caused a drop in interest costs and a positive earnings per share (EPS) when combined with tax attributes on the company’s balance sheet.
Bombardier has reason to look toward 2023 optimistically. It expects this year’s revenue to exceed $7.6 billion. This increase in revenue will be supported by more aircraft deliveries (of which Bombardier currently anticipates 138) and the sustained growth of aftermarket services. It has already begun expanding this offering through the recruitment of technicians and the expansion of its service network.
Bombardier is also looking beyond this year and toward 2025. On March 23, 2023, the company will host Bombardier’s 2023 Investor Day. Company executives will provide insight into each of Bombardier’s focuses: defense, expanding its aftermarket services, and ESG objectives. As the aviation industry continues on the road to recovery, Bombardier’s financial success in 2022 indicates the strong increase of demand business aviation has seen as the industry returns to normalcy.