ON MARCH 31 Bombardier announced its results for the year ended January 31 2005. Higher revenues at Bombardier Transportation were partially offset by lower revenues in Aerospace, with consolidated revenue across the company totalling US$15·8bn, up from $15·5bn in the previous year.
Consolidated earnings before income taxes and special items were $71m, compared to $311m in 2003. Loss from continuing operations was $85m, an improvement on the previous $166m loss.
Results at Bombardier Transportation ’continue to improve as the ongoing restructuring initiative progresses on schedule’. Revenue totalled $7·6bn, compared to $7bn for the previous year. The increase was ’mainly due to higher revenues on main line contracts and the positive effect of foreign currency fluctuations’.
Transportation’s Ebitda before special items was $171m for the year, down from $197m in 2004 ’primarily due to the deterioration in the profitability of certain significant contracts’. This was ’partially offset by lower operating expenses resulting from the positive effects of various restructuring and cost reduction initiatives’.
Special items totalled $172m, compared to $349m for 2004; these were mainly related to severance and site closure costs. The total cost of restructuring the business was initially estimated at $583m, but is now put at $617m. Plants at Amadora in Portugal and Derby Pride Park and Doncaster in the UK ceased manufacturing during the year, and a ’detailed procurement action plan was put in place to reduce costs and the number of suppliers’. Works at Pratteln, Ammendorf, Kalmar and Wakefield will close in 2006.
EBIT amounted to a loss of $139m after special items, compared to a loss of $310m the year before. New orders in 2004 totalled $4·4bn. The backlog was $21·3bn on January 31, compared to $23·7bn a year earlier. This decrease reflects an excess of revenues recorded over order intake, partially offset by the positive impact of a foreign exchange adjustment of about $800m.
CAPTION: On March 30 Bombardier announced a C$26m order from GO Transit for an additional 10 BiLevel coaches for Toronto commuter services. They will be built at Bombardier’s Thunder Bay plant in Ontario between August 2005 and the second quarter of 2006
