Bombardier Announces Full-Year Financial Results

Bombardier (TSX: BBD.B) today reported its fourth quarter and full year 2019 results, in line with previously announced preliminary results. The company also confirmed it is still actively pursuing options to accelerate deleveraging, strengthen its balance sheet and enhance shareholder value.

Sale of A220 Partnership Interest

Bombardier has entered into an agreement with Airbus SE and the Government of Quebec, under which Bombardier transferred its shares in the Airbus Canada Limited Partnership (ACLP) to Airbus and the Government of Quebec, improving Bombardier’s cash position. This includes cash proceeds of ~$600 million from Airbus, of which $531 million was paid upon closing with the balance to be paid over 2020-21, and the elimination of all future capital requirements for the A220 program, estimated at ~ $700 million.(1)

Bombardier will also transfer aerostructures activities and employees supporting the A220 and A330 in St-Laurent, Québec to Airbus subsidiary Stelia Aerospace. Finally, the agreement provides for the cancelation of 100,000,000 Bombardier warrants owned by Airbus.

Bombardier’s decision to sell its stake in the A220 partnership completes its exit from commercial aerospace, a significant undertaking. In 2016, Bombardier’s commercial aerospace business lost approximately $400 million and was consuming approximately $1 billion in cash. Addressing this challenging portfolio was a fundamental step in the Company’s turnaround plan.

“We are incredibly proud of the many achievements and tremendous impact Bombardier had on the commercial aviation industry,” said Alain Bellemare, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc. “We are equally proud of the responsible way in which we have exited commercial aerospace, preserving jobs and reinforcing the aerospace cluster in Québec and Canada. And, we are confident that the A220 program will enjoy a long and successful run under Airbus’ and Québec’s stewardship.”

Acceleration of Deleveraging Phase of Turnaround

The sale of our interest in the ACLP, combined with the previously announced aerospace divestitures, will generate more than $1.6 billion in cash proceeds and eliminate close to $2 billion in liabilities and future commitments.  Liquidity remains strong, with Pro Forma cash-on-hand of more than $4 billion and $5.5 billion in liquidity, providing the necessary flexibility to complete the turnaround. Both the CRJ program sale to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Inc. and sale of the aerostructures business to Spirit AeroSystems, Holding Inc are expected to close in the first half of 2020.(1)

As previously announced, the Company is actively pursuing options that would allow it to accelerate deleveraging, paydown debt and position the business for long-term success with greater operating and financial flexibility. This process remains ongoing, however the company does not intent to provide any further updates at this time.

Overview Financial Performance

Bombardier’s consolidated revenues for the year were $15.8 billion, highlighted by an 8.5% growth in business aircraft activities. The growth in Aviation revenues were offset by the lower contribution from commercial aircraft businesses following their divestitures. Revenues at Transportation also decreased, mainly due to contract estimate revisions.

Consolidated adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBIT for the year were $896 million and $470 million, respectively, reflecting (i) improvements at Aviation as it exits underperforming commercial programs and ramps-up production on the Global 7500aircraft; and (ii) additional charges and investments at Transportation to complete challenging projects. Reported EBIT loss for the year of $498 million includes a $1.6B impairment charge related to the ACLP investment.

Fourth quarter cash generation reached $1.0 billion, reducing free cash flow usage to $1.2 billion for the year.  Higher than anticipated cash usage was driven by additional investments made to address challenging rail projects, as well as, the deferral of deliveries, mainly at Transportation. Cash usage from operating activities amounted to $680 million for the full year.

2020 Outlook

Revenues from our sustaining business aircraft and Transportation activities in 2020 are expected to grow organically by double-digit percentage over the $13.7 billion revenues recorded from these businesses in 2019(1).  This strong growth is driven mainly from the acceleration of Global 7500 deliveries contributing to a total of 160 aircraft or more for the year at Aviation. The consolidated revenue growth is also supported by the ongoing production ramp-up of Transportation, driven by the solid orders from the past few years.

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBIT are expected to increase to approximately 7.0% and 3.5% respectively, mainly from the acceleration of Global 7500 deliveries at Aviation and gradual margin normalization at Transportation. The adjusted EBIT margin expansion includes a higher amortization expense as Global 7500 deliveries increase. The full year outlook for earnings reflects the partial year contribution from ongoing divestitures of the CRJ program and Aerostructures businesses.(1)

Free cash flow is expected to be positive in 2020, excluding Credit and RVG payments. These residual liabilities related to the exit of commercial aircraft are estimated to be approximately $200 million for the year and are expected to be paid from the CRJ transaction proceeds.(1)

Selected results (PDF)

SEGMENTED RESULTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Aviation

Results (PDF)

Stronger Financial Performance as Aviation Reshapes its Portfolio

• Revenues for Aviation totalled $7.5 billion for 2019. This reflects an 8.5% revenue growth from business aircraft activities and continued double-digit organic growth from aftermarket.
• The segment achieved 175 aircraft deliveries during the year, comprised of 54 Global, 76 Challenger, 12 Learjet, as well as 33 commercial aircraft.
  • The fourth quarter’s activity level was high, with deliveries reaching 52 business aircraft as
    Global 7500 deliveries accelerated.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin was 10.8% for the year, up 200 bps driven by the exit of the Q400 and C Series programs. This profitability was nonetheless diluted in 2019 by CRJ activities, accounting for $1.2 billion in revenues for the year.
• The adjusted EBIT margin of 7.1% is up 70 bps year-over-year, reflecting the early production ramp up and higher amortization associated with Global 7500 deliveries, as well as the dilution from commercial aircraft activities.
• Business aircraft backlog increased slightly for the second consecutive year, reaching $14.4 billion at year end, while the CRJ backlog declined as production winds down.

Concentrating on Business Aircraft while Addressing Underperforming Programs

• In February 2019, the Corporation acquired the Global 7500 aircraft wing program operations and assets from Triumph Group Inc. This transaction enabled the company to leverage its extensive technical expertise to support the ramp-up of the Global 7500 aircraft and secure its long-term success.
• In March 2019, we concluded the sale of Business Aircraft’s flight and technical training activities to CAE Inc. for net proceeds of $532 million.
• In May 2019, we completed the previously announced sale of the Q Series program assets, including aftermarket operations and assets, to De Havilland Aircraft of Canada for net proceeds of $285 million.
• In June 2019, the Corporation entered into a definitive agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI) for the sale of its regional jet program for a cash consideration of $550 million payable upon closing, and the assumption by MHI of approximately $200 million of liabilities related to credit and residual value guarantees and lease subsidies. The transaction is currently expected to close by mid-year 2020 and remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
• In October 2019, the Corporation and Spirit AeroSystems Holding, Inc. (Spirit) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, whereby Spirit will acquire Bombardier’s aerostructures activities and aftermarket services operations in Belfast, U.K. and Casablanca, Morocco, and its aerostructures maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Dallas, U.S. for a cash consideration of $500 million and the assumption of approximately $700 million of liabilities, including government refundable advances and pension obligations. The transaction is expected to close by mid-year 2020 and remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

Positioned for Growth through certification and ramp up of New Programs and Service Network Expansion

• Reaching full-scale production of the class-defining Global 7500 aircraft. With increased deliveries, the Global 7500aircraft is expected to contribute significantly to revenues growth in 2020. As the aircraft progresses on the learning curve, it will also contribute to margin expansion.
• Certified the new Global 5500 and Global 6500 aircraft, followed by the entry into service of the Global 6500 aircraft in 2019, offering customers the perfect combination of range, speed, field performance and smooth ride.
• Continued and consistent growth of the aftermarket business, with further expansion of the service network in Singapore planned for 2020.

Transportation

Results (PDF)

Full-year financial results reflect actions and initiatives undertaken to move forward and complete challenging projects

• During the past year, Transportation continued to progress through its turnaround, by re-synchronizing production and resetting certain project delivery schedules, while also investing to support in-service reliability improvements and funding additional manufacturing and engineering capacity. The higher than anticipated cost to implement these initiatives and to address late-stage legacy projects, mainly concentrated in the U.K., Switzerland and Germany, led to lower earnings and free cash flow for the segment.
  • Over $500 million in cost estimate changes embedded in 2019 earnings.
• Completed delivery of several large legacy projects, including Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City, Crossrail in the U.K. and Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in Toronto.
• As Transportation exited the year, progress was also made in achieving key milestones on other major projects, including significant in-service reliability improvement on Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in Switzerland and the homologation of the multi-unit software for LoTrain in the U.K., paving the way for the delivery of trains on this project and subsequent AVENTRA contracts in the U.K.

Backlog Improvement Positions for Stronger Financial Results

• Transportation continued to grow and improve the quality of its backlog with $10.0 billion in new orders, and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.2 for the year. Backlog reached $35.8 billion at year end.
• Approximately 70% of 2019 orders coming from service contracts, signalling projects and options on rolling stock projects, carrying lower execution risk. Backlog share of services and signalling contracts increased to 48% (42% a year ago).

Focused on Stronger Project Execution to Drive Sustainable Financial Performance

• Appointment of Danny Di Perna as President, Bombardier Transportation, in February 2019 strengthened focus on customer relationships and disciplined project execution.
  • Strengthened Transportation’s leadership team with appointments of new Head of Engineering and  new Regional Presidents to better deliver on customer commitments.
• Clear management priorities - focus on significant production ramp-up in the U.K. and France, reliability in Germany, settlement of claims and acceptance of trains on the SBB project in Switzerland, and continuing to drive efficiency across the organization.

CDPQ Investments in Transportation

• Transportation’s results for 2019 did not reach the performance targets underlying CDPQ’s investment in BT Holdco. Accordingly, for the 12-month period starting on February 12, 2020, Bombardier’s percentage of ownership on conversion of CDPQ’s shares will decrease by 2.5%, to 67.5%; and the preference return entitlement rate on liquidation of its shares will increase from 9.5% to 12.0% for this period. Any dividends paid by BT Holdco to its shareholders during this period will be distributed on the basis of each shareholder’s percentage of ownership upon conversion, being 67.5% for Bombardier and 32.5% for CDPQ. These adjustments will become effective once the audited consolidated financial statements of BT Holdco are duly approved by its board of directors.

À propos de Bombardier

With over 60,000 employees across two business segments, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.

Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in over 25 countries across the segments of Business Aviation and Transportation. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, Bombardier posted revenues of $15.8 billion. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

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.

AVENTRA, Bombardier, Challenger, Challenger 350, Challenger 650, CRJ, CRJ200, CRJ900, Global, Global 5500, Global 6500, Global 7500, Global 8000, Learjet, Learjet 75, Learjet 75 Liberty, are trademarks of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

Pour plus d'informations

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. See the forward-looking statements assumptions on which the guidance is based and forward-looking statements disclaimer in Overview.
2. Non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the Non-GAAP financial measures section in Overview for definitions of these metrics and the Analysis of results section hereafter for reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures.
3. Excluding divestitures and currency translation impact.
4. Refer to Note 3 - Changes in accounting policies, to our Consolidated financial statements, for the impact of the adoption of IFRS 16, Leases. Under the modified retrospective approach adopted by the Corporation, 2018 figures are not restated.
5. Non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the Non-GAAP financial measures section in Overview for definitions of these metrics and to the  Analysis of results section and Liquidity and capital resources section for reconciliations to the most comparable IFRS measures. Prior to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, the Corporation reported non-GAAP measures labelled “EBIT before special items” and “EBITDA before special items”. Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, the Corporation changed the label of these non-GAAP measures to "adjusted EBIT" and "adjusted EBITDA", respectively, without making any change to the composition of these non-GAAP measures. The Corporation believes that this new label aligns better with broad market practice in its industry and better distinguishes these measures from the IFRS measurement "EBIT".
6. Included the proceeds from the sale of the Downsview property for approximately $600 million in 2018.
7. Includes cash and cash equivalents of the aerostructures businesses presented under Assets held for sale totalling $51 million as of December 31, 2019. Refer to Reshaping the portfolio section in Aviation, Note 15 - Cash and cash equivalents and Note 30 - Assets held for sale in the Consolidated financial statements for more details on the transactions as well as the accounting treatments.
8. Defined as cash and cash equivalents plus the amount available under our revolving credit facilities.
9. Including 20 firm orders for CRJ900 as of December 31, 2019 and 45 firm orders for CRJ900 as of December 31, 2018. CRJ production is expected to conclude in the second half of 2020, following the delivery of the current backlog of the aircraft.
10. Figures are restated as a result of the formation of Bombardier Aviation, our new reportable segment. Refer to the Segment reporting section in Overview for further details.
11. On May 31, 2019, the Corporation completed the previously announced sale of the Q Series aircraft program assets, including aftermarket operations and assets, to De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (formerly Longview Aircraft Company of Canada Limited). Hence, the 7   Q Series aircraft deliveries for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 are for the first five months only; the deliveries for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 included 15 Q Series aircraft.
12. Ratio of new orders over revenues.

CAUTION REGARDING NON-GAAP MEASURES

This press release is based on reported earnings in accordance with IFRS and on the following non-GAAP financial measures:

1. Starting January 1, 2019, EBIT before special items and EBITDA before special items are replaced with adjusted EBIT and adjusted EBITDA, respectively. The definitions of both measures remain unchanged.

Non-GAAP financial measures are mainly derived from the consolidated financial statements but do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. The exclusion of certain items from non-GAAP performance measures does not imply that these items are necessarily non-recurring. Other entities in our industry may define the above measures differently than we do. In those cases, it may be difficult to compare the performance of those entities to ours based on these similarly-named non-GAAP measures.

Prior to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, the Corporation reported non-GAAP measures labelled “EBIT before special items” and “EBITDA before special items”. Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, the Corporation changed the label of these non-GAAP measures to "adjusted EBIT" and "adjusted EBITDA", respectively, without making any change to the composition of these non-GAAP measures. The Corporation believes that this new label aligns better with broad market practice in its industry and better distinguishes these measures from the IFRS measurement "EBIT".

Adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted EPS

Management uses adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted EPS for purposes of evaluating underlying business performance. Management believes these non-GAAP earnings measures in addition to IFRS measures provide 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. Adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted net income (loss) and adjusted EPS exclude items that do not reflect our core performance or where their exclusion will assist users in understanding our results for the period. For these reasons, a significant number of users of the MD&A analyze our results based on these financial measures. Management believes these measures help users of MD&A to better analyze results, enabling better comparability of our results from one period to another and with peers.

Free cash flow (usage)

Free cash flow is defined as cash flows from operating activities less net additions to PP&E and intangible assets. Management believes that this non-GAAP cash flow measure provides investors with an important perspective on the Corporation’s generation of cash available for shareholders, debt repayment, and acquisitions after making the capital investments required to support ongoing business operations and long-term value creation. This non-GAAP cash flow measure does not represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures as it excludes certain mandatory expenditures such as repayment of maturing debt. Management uses free cash flow as a measure to assess both business performance and overall liquidity generation.

Adjusted debt

We analyze our capital structure using global metrics, based on adjusted debt, adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted interest(1). Refer to the Capital structure section for more detail.

Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable IFRS financial measures are provided in the tables hereafter, except for the following reconciliations:

• adjusted EBIT to EBIT – see the Results of operations tables in the reporting segments and Consolidated results of operations section; and
• free cash flow usage to cash flows from operating activities – see the Free cash flow usage table in the Liquidity and capital resources section.
• Represents interest paid as per the supplemental information provided in the consolidated statements of cash flows.

Reconciliations to most comparable IFRS measures (PDF)

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release includes forward-looking statements, which may involve, but are not limited to: statements with respect to our objectives, anticipations and outlook or guidance in respect of various financial and global metrics and sources of contribution thereto, targets, goals, priorities, market and strategies, financial position, market position, capabilities, competitive strengths, credit ratings, 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; growth strategy, including in the business aircraft aftermarket business; 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; expectations regarding progress and completion of challenging Transportation projects and the release of working capital therefrom within the anticipated timeframe; expectations regarding revenue and backlog mix; the expected impact of the legislative and regulatory environment and legal proceedings on our business and operations; strength of capital profile and balance sheet, creditworthiness, available liquidities and capital resources, expected financial requirements and ongoing review of strategic and financial alternatives; the introduction of productivity enhancements, operational efficiencies and restructuring initiatives and anticipated costs, intended benefits and timing thereof; the expected objectives and financial targets underlying our transformation plan and the timing and progress in execution thereof, including the anticipated business transition to growth cycle and cash generation; expectations and objectives regarding debt repayments and refinancing of bank facilities and maturities; and intentions and objectives for our programs, assets and operations. As it relates to the pursuit of a divestiture of our operations in Belfast and Morocco, the sale of the CRJ aircraft program (collectively, the Pending Transactions), this press release also contains forward-looking statements with respect to: the expected terms, conditions, and timing for completion thereof; the respective anticipated proceeds and use thereof and/or consideration therefor, related costs and expenses, as well as the anticipated benefits of such transactions and their expected impact on our outlook, guidance and targets, operations, infrastructure, opportunities, financial condition, business plan and overall strategy; and the fact that closing of these transactions will be conditioned on certain events occurring, including the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.

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. Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding certain key elements of our current objectives, strategic priorities, expectations, outlook and plans, and in obtaining a better understanding of our business and anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

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. The assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this press release in relation to the Pending Transactions discussed herein include the following material assumptions: the satisfaction of all closing conditions (including receipt of regulatory approvals on acceptable terms within commonly experienced time frames) and successful completion of such transactions within the anticipated timeframe, the realization of the intended benefits therefrom (including receipt of expected proceeds) within the anticipated timeframe. For additional information, including with respect to the other assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements made in this press release, refer to the Strategic Priorities and Guidance and forward-looking statements sections in applicable reportable segment.

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 “Brexit”, the financial condition of the airline industry, business aircraft customers, and the rail industry; trade policy; increased competition; political instability and force majeure events or global climate change), operational risks (such as risks related to developing new products and services; development of new business and awarding of new contracts; book-to-bill ratio and order backlog; the certification and homologation of products and services; fixed-price and fixed-term commitments and production and project execution, including challenges associated with challenging Transportation projects and the risk that actions and initiatives undertaken by Transportation to move forward and complete such projects may not be successful, and the intended outcome and release of working capital therefrom not being realized, within the timeframe anticipated or at all; pressures on cash flows and capital expenditures based on project-cycle fluctuations and seasonality; risks associated with our ability to successfully implement and execute our strategy, transformation plan, productivity enhancements, operational efficiencies and restructuring initiatives; doing business with partners; inadequacy of cash planning and management and project funding; product performance warranty and casualty claim losses; regulatory and legal proceedings; environmental, health and safety risks; dependence on certain customers, contracts and suppliers; supply chain risks; human resources; reliance on information systems; reliance on and protection of intellectual property rights; reputation risks; risk management; tax matters; 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 this press release. With respect to the Pending Transactions discussed herein specifically, certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the failure to receive or delay in receiving regulatory approvals on acceptable terms or at all, or otherwise satisfy the conditions to the completion of these transactions or delay in completing, and uncertainty regarding the length of time required to complete, such transactions, and all or part of the intended benefits therefrom not being realized and the anticipated proceeds therefrom not being available to Bombardier within the anticipated timeframe, or at all; and alternate sources of funding that would be used to replace the anticipated proceeds from such transactions may not be available when needed, or on desirable terms. For more details, see the Risks and uncertainties section in Other in this press release.

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. Other risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we presently believe are not material could also cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth herein reflect management’s expectations as at the date of this report and are subject to change after such date. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, we expressly disclaim any intention, and assume 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.