Aircraft

Buoyed by solid orders for business aircraft, Bombardier Aerospace saw its fiscal second quarter EBIT improve by $105 million to $238 million, translating into a margin of 9.5%.

The Canadian airframer received 175 net orders, comprising 162 business aircraft, 11 commercial aircraft and two amphibious aircraft, during the quarter ended 31 July. This compares to a total 187 orders during the corresponding period the previous year.

Revenues for the division grew to $2.5 billion, up $3 million over the 2007 fiscal second quarter.

"The increase is mainly due to an increase in manufacturing revenues reflecting increased deliveries and improved selling prices for business aircraft partially offset by lower deliveries of commercial aircraft, mainly of smaller turboprops," says Bombardier, noting that backlog rose to $26.1 billion from $22.7 billion at 31 January 31.

Overall, Bombardier reported fiscal second quarter net income of $246 million, reversing a $71 million net loss during the year-prior quarter. Consolidated revenues increased by 22% year-over-year to $4.9 billion.

Both Bombardier Aerospace and Bombardier Transportation, which produces locomotives, "have delivered solid results again this quarter", says Bombardier president and CEO Pierre Beaudoin.

"Performance on our large backlog has strongly contributed to the generation of $0.14 earnings per share this quarter, compared to $0.05 last year."