Bombardier has revealed solid financial results for the first quarter of 2022, marked by a strong aftermarket performance, robust free cash flow generation and a growing backlog.

“We took off quickly this year, bolstered by the positive performance from last year and sustained favourable market conditions,” says president and CEO Éric Martel. “Thanks to continued strong deliveries and order intake, as well as great performance of our aftermarket services, we continue to accelerate our momentum on the path towards our long-term objectives.”

With its strong portfolio of world-leading jets and an expanding service network, Bombardier is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the demand for both new jets and services. This strength supported consolidated cash generation of $173 million for 1Q22, which represents a $578 million improvement compared to the same quarter last year. “I am particularly pleased with the continued robust free cash flow generation we achieved in this quarter. This is a testament to the concerted efforts of our sales team that worked diligently to make the most of vigorous demand and secured a very strong order intake,” Martel continues. “While we are clearly tracking well to our free cash flow guidance for 2022, we are opting to take a few months to measure the impact of the current global geopolitical and market contexts to carefully assess the true size of any potential upside.”

Bombardier's revenues from business jet sales and aftermarket services totalled $1.2 billion during the period as business jet utilisation and flight hours continued to rise around the world. The company delivered a total of 21 aircraft and also reported record aftermarket revenues, a 34 per cent improvement over the same quarter last year. The strong demand was reflected also in the 2.5 unit book-to-bill ratio and a growing backlog that rose by $1.3 billion to $13.5 billion since the beginning of this year.

In terms of profit, the company expanded its year-over-year adjusted EBITDA margin by 420 basis points to reach 13.4 per cent. Adjusted EBITDA was at $167 million, a 36 per cent improvement over the same quarter last year, thanks mainly to higher aftermarket revenues, incremental Global 7500 contribution and cost structure improvements. The EBIT from continuing operations was $85 million.

During this time, Bombardier achieved a major step in its debt reduction by completing the partial redemption of outstanding senior notes in the total value of $400 million, a major milestone in its deleveraging strategy. The company was able to repay this debt by utilising cash and cash equivalents generated in 2021. Continued deleveraging of the business remains a priority.

“It is clear that we have meaningful cash generation potential ahead of us that we can continue to allocate towards debt reduction, but also significant strategic investments,” says Martel.

The company concluded 1Q22 with a landmark achievement for its industry flagship Global 7500. On 30 March, 2022 it delivered the 100th Global 7500 to long time client VistaJet. This is the 10th Global 7500 for VistaJet, which plans to welcome up to a total of 17 into its fleet by the end of 2022.

“This delivery represented an extremely important moment for all of us at Bombardier in Montréal, Toronto and Wichita, where our extraordinary teams are designing, building and testing this amazing aircraft,” adds Martel. “We also celebrated the fact that we have now reached our targeted unit cost for this aircraft, which has been rapidly growing its EBITDA contribution over the last year and will see its margins more than double between 2021 and 2025.”