Business

Bombardier expects full-year profits despite latest $94m loss

The wings for Bombardier's C Series aircraft are made in Belfast
The wings for Bombardier's C Series aircraft are made in Belfast The wings for Bombardier's C Series aircraft are made in Belfast

PLANE maker Bombardier said it expects to make profits this year, despite reporting $94 million (£75.7m) for the third quarter.

The Montreal-headquartered company said the latest results showed its turnaround plan was working.

The aerospace company will have laid off 1,080 people from its Belfast plan by the end of this year.

The group which is also planning a further 7,500 job cuts worldwide said the cuts were required to remain competitive.

It has faced various difficulties in recent years, not least delays to its flagship CSeries programme.

The new aircraft series designed to rival Airbus and Boeing is almost three years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

The wings for the planes - up to 120 of which are due to be finished by 2020 - are made in Belfast.

The company had hoped to deliver 15 C Series aircraft this year but reduced that to seven after engine delivery delays at supplier Pratt & Whitney.

The firm reported consolidated revenues of $3.7 billion (£3bn) in the three months to September and $12bn (£9.7bn) in the nine-month period.

The performance followed a planned reduction in business aircraft revenues.

Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare said: "We continue to gain momentum as we execute our turnaround plan and transform our company.

“In the third quarter, we again delivered on our financial commitments, we achieved our program milestones and we continued to take the hard actions necessary to improve productivity, reduce costs and optimise our operations.”

He added: "As we close out 2016, we are confident in our strategy, our turnaround plan and in our ability to achieve our 2020 goals.

“We remain focused on improving operational efficiency, flawlessly ramping-up our new programs and maintaining a disciplined and proactive approach to deliver value to customers and shareholders in any market environment.”