Bombardier to trim aircraft output after fall in profit

Airline Industry Information, Dec 1, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier is to cut back on its regional jet production rate after it reported a lower than expected profit for the third quarter of 2004.

Bombardier earned USD10m or break-even on a per-share basis, a considerable fall from the same period in 2003 when it recorded a profit of USD133m or USD0.07 per share. Analysts had expected a profit of USD0.01 per share.

The Montreal-based company blamed the results on the performance of its train manufacturing division which announced that it was cutting 2,200 jobs in the wake of the results. Bombardier said that it would also be cutting the level of production of its CRJ-200 aircraft to match expected demand, with an aim of 54 deliveries in the fiscal year ending 31 January 2006, reports Reuters.

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