Bombardier pledges more money for new projects to keep up with demand, rivals
The pledge follows an earlier guidance of US$200 million per year in capital expenditures.
MONTREAL — Bombardier Inc. is looking to increase capital spending to beef up output as demand grows and its biggest rival seeks to ramp up deliveries.
Ahead of an investor day this morning, the business jet maker said it will establish a “recurring, incremental capital allocation envelope of up to US$600 million per year” to put toward strategic projects or debt reduction.
The pledge follows an earlier guidance of US$200 million per year in capital expenditures.
It also comes as Bombardier continues to pay down hundreds of millions of dollars in debt while trying to keep up with rival Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., which aims to boost deliveries by 38 per cent to 170 private planes between 2022 and 2024.
The Montreal-based company edged out its American competitor with 120 business aircraft deliveries last year versus 119 for Gulfstream, although the latter garnered US$680 million more in revenue.
Chief executive Eric Martel is reiterating Bombardier’s guidance of US$7.5 billion in annual revenue by 2025 and 135 business jet deliveries next year.
“The competitor in our space would like to take our market share, and we are not about to let that happen,” Martel said from a Bombardier hangar Thursday morning.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2022.
