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Bombardier shares get uptick on news CSeries on track

Bombardier's battered shares got a lift Thursday after the transportation company said its CSeries commercial aircraft in on track for certification this year.


August 24, 2015  By The Canadian Press

A day after dipping to a 23-year low of $1.15, Bombardier’s shares closed up eight cents or nearly seven per cent at $1.27 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, after having been up as much as 10 per cent earlier in the session.

Earlier, the Montreal-based company said the CS100 has completed 2,250 flight test hours, representing more than 80 per cent of the required testing.

“The CSeries continues to impress and is on track to achieving certification later this year and we continue to work with first operator Swiss as it readies for entry-into-service in the first half of 2016,” said Fred Cromer, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft.

Bombardier says the plane is undergoing noise testing which it expects will confirm it is the quietest commercial jet in production.

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Earlier in the summer, Bombardier announced that the aircraft’s maximum range was 11 per cent greater than targeted at 6,112 kilometres. It is also using 20 per cent less fuel than other aircraft in operation and some 10 per cent better fuel burn than rival planes equipped with new engines.

Walter Spracklin of RBC Capital Markets says the update assuages concerns that Bombardier would announce another delay.

“The strong performance data, coupled with further progress on the development side, should help management on future sales campaigns — and as such, help provide some relief to the deep negative sentiment pervasive on the shares,” he wrote in a report.

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