AIRCRAFT parts make Shorts Bros in Belfast slashed its losses in 2021 as it fully completed its integration into US-owned Spirit Aerosystems.
Having posted a half billion dollar loss in 2020 ($500.2 million), that figure was significantly lower at $76.5m last year, according to files just submitted to Companies House (to match the reporting conventions of its parent company, the registered accounts are reported in US dollars).
This substantial improvement is primarily related to £193.4m exceptional contract provisions taken during 2020 in comparison to only $34.4m in 2021, coupled with an exceptional curtailment gain of $60.5m (2020: $6.8m) on the closing of the Short Bros pension scheme to future accrual in December 2021.
It had also spent $32m on restructuring charges the year before - a figure which was zero last year.
But the business continued to face what it admitted were "challenging cost pressures" in a difficult overall aerospace context.
Overall, company turnover was slightly down in 2021 at $597.6m (previously $620.5m).
But commercial segment turnover increased, driven by a ramp-up in wing delivery (a key function at its Belfast operations), compensating for a decrease in fuselage sales.
Short Bros - which was owned by Canadian firm Bombardier until being bought by Spirit in late 2019 for $865 million - said it continued last year to explore opportunities to develop new technologies, with company engineers seconded to the Aerospace Technology Institute's flagship FlyZero R&D programme.
It was initiated in late 2020 by the ATI and the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to determine whether zero-carbon emission flight was feasible for larger commercial aircraft.
The company's directors said "significant progress" was made during the year on a number of programmes.
Shorts also supported the relaunch of the NI Advanced Composites and Engineering (NIACE) centre, which is helped establish in 2012, and also continued its membership of the Belfast Maritime Consortium, which is developing zero-emission passenger ferries to help revolutionise the future of maritime transport.
To this end, it continue to be part of the Artemis project, which aims to build high-speed ferries capable of carrying up to 350 passengers.
Among the listed directors for Short Bros is Belfast-born Michael Ryan, who has been involved with the company since the early 1980s and who last year was awarded a knighthood for his services to the economy.
As Northern Ireland’s largest manufacturing business, Spirit Belfast’s continued health is seen as vital to the north’s economy, and as the market for civil aircraft ramps up again, the business is starting to take on staff again.
