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Bloomberg
Bombardier Inc., the debt-laden manufacturer in the middle of a turnaround plan, expects to be able to refinance bonds next year even if high-yield markets remain skittish.
The company’s next major debt maturity is $850 million due in March 2020, with more than $2 billion coming the year after that, according to company filings.
As the 2021 maturities come to term, Bombardier should be better able to start reducing its debt costs, whether by paying down obligations or by
borrowing more cheaply because of its improved cash flow, Chief Financial Officer John Di Bert said.
“I have complete confidence we will have access to markets,†Di Bert said. Bombardier has never lost the ability to issue debt — even in 2016, when the Montreal-based company was investing in new aircraft development programs and a key measure of its cash flow was negative, the CFO said.
Di Bert and Chief Executive Officer Alain Bellemare are trying to restore investors’ faith in the second half of their five-year turnaround plan after a disappointing cash-flow forecast last month and production delays at the company’s rail business.
Canada’s biggest aerospace company confirmed its 2020 financial objectives, including revenue of at least $20 billion and operating cash flow after necessary capital expenditure of as much as $1 billion. That cash-flow figure was negative $1.8 billion in 2015 and negative $1.1 billion in 2016.