RE: So what you're saying is....YOU FORGET $780M US & 512M US DEAL....
"Bombardier's biggest aircraft order so far this year, worth $780 million, was placed in March by Delta Connection, a unit of Delta Air Lines Inc. "=$1.3B US
Bombardier Gets $512.6 Million Order From Air Nostrum (Update2)
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Bombardier Inc., the world's No. 3 aircraft maker, said it won an order worth $512.6 million from Spain's Air Nostrum for 20 regional jetliners.
The order is for the 50-seat CRJ200 aircraft, Montreal-based Bombardier said. Air Nostrum, based in Valencia, has the option to convert some or all of the orders to other types of Bombardier aircraft. The airline already has taken delivery of 25 CRJ200s.
The plane order, Bombardier's second-biggest this year, is a boost for the company's struggling aerospace unit, which reported a $23 million loss for the quarter ended April 30 because of sales discounts and higher depreciation costs for developing the Challenger 300 business jet. It also isn't likely to win much business at next week's Farnborough Air Show in the U.K., Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Cameron Jeffreys said.
``Although we believe the mood in the aerospace sector is generally more optimistic than it was a year ago, we feel that the difficulties surrounding Bombardier far and away supercede any potential buzz generated by the event,'' Jeffreys wrote in a note to investors last week.
In recent months, investors have become concerned about Bombardier's dwindling backlog of contracts for airliners. At the end of May, the company had 264 unfilled orders for commercial jets, down 28 percent from 366 a year earlier. Bombardier delivered 223 airliners last year.
When it receives the planes, Air Nostrum will become the largest single operator of Bombardier regional jetliners in Europe with 70. Bombardier spokesman Bert Cruickshank said the deliveries would probably take place next year.
Turnaround Plan
Chief Executive Officer Paul Tellier, 65, who in January 2003 replaced Robert Brown as CEO, is working on a three-year plan that began in April 2003 to keep Bombardier's credit rating from falling to junk status and return it to profit after two years of losses.
About half of Bombardier's $15.5 billion in revenue in the year ended Jan. 31 came from the aircraft unit. The rest came from trains. Bombardier is the world's largest maker of train cars.
Bombardier's biggest aircraft order so far this year, worth $780 million, was placed in March by Delta Connection, a unit of Delta Air Lines Inc.
Class B shares of Bombardier fell 8 Canadian cents to C$3.65 ($2.78) in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. They have fallen 33 percent in the past year. Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. are the two largest commercial-aircraft makers, respectively.
To contact the reporter for this story:
Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Rob Urban at robprag@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: July 16, 2004 16:45 EDT
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