Canadian icon Bombardier on Wednesday posted $220 million profit for the first quarter even as the global rail and corporate aviation leader also announced a new $665-million oder by Sweden to buy 10 C-series jets.
It is the first major order for the Montreal-based Bombardier after a $446-million order by India's SpiceJet in December to buy 15 turboprop aircraft. SpiceJet is the first Indian airline to order the next-generation aircraft.
Bombardier's quarterly profits represent more than 12% jump over the $195-million posted during the same period last year.
The company said its quarterly revenues also reached $4.7 billion - up 9% from $4.3 billion in the last fiscal year.
"Bombardier Aerospace (aviation wing) has started to benefit from a stronger business aircraft market, especially at the high end. And once again, our state-of-the-art business aircraft product offering has paid off, as illustrated by the increased level of new orders this quarter," said Bombardier president and CEO Pierre Beaudoin.
Referring to the Swedish order for 10 jets, he said the "cloud of uncertainty hanging over civil aviation is lifting, with a substantial increase in our orders for business jets in the last quarter. "Our commercial aircraft segment, although slower to recover, is seeing an improved level of interest from customers."
{{/usCountry}}Referring to the Swedish order for 10 jets, he said the "cloud of uncertainty hanging over civil aviation is lifting, with a substantial increase in our orders for business jets in the last quarter. "Our commercial aircraft segment, although slower to recover, is seeing an improved level of interest from customers."
{{/usCountry}}Bombardier was the only stock to end in positive territory as the Toronto Stock Exchange followed Dow to slip 275 points to close at 13,527 Wednesday.
One a day when one Canadian iconic company posted a huge profit, another icon Research In Motion (RIM) was bloodied on the market as BlackBerry stock further sank 5.1% to close at $39.23. After the demise of Nortel, Bombardier and RIM are the only two global majors from Canada.
Bombardier is also one of the few Canadian companies with a major presence in India. It is a supplier of cars to Delhi Metro and has a facility at Savli near Baroda.