CSeries could spur Bombardier’s growth

Article Excerpt

BOMBARDIER INC. (Toronto symbols BBD.A $4.62 and BBD.B $4.57; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 1.8 billion; Market cap: $8.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.bombardier.com) recently began test flights of its CSeries jet, which seats 100 to 150 passengers. The new CSeries is quieter and 20% more fuel efficient than comparable aircraft. The company now expects the CSeries’ development costs to total $3.9 billion, up 14.7% from its original 2008 estimate of $3.4 billion (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars). That’s because new accounting rules, which took effect in 2011, have forced Bombardier to include interest costs in the overall estimate. Bombardier now has firm orders for 177 CSeries jets, plus options for 226 more. If the buyers exercise all these options, the resulting 403 orders would be worth $29 billion. The company aims to begin delivering the planes by the end of 2014. Meanwhile,…