MILAN
(Reuters) – Italy’s deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio extended a
deadline to submit bids for the ailing carrier Alitalia to June 15, a
government statement said on Friday.
The decision followed a request from Italy’s state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato, which is one of the companies who have said they are willing to contribute to the rescue plan.
The current deadline had expired at the end of April.
The government is arranging a rescue of the ailing company to avoid mass layoffs and has lined up Ferrovie dello Stato and U.S. carrier Delta as potential investors. But it still needs another investor to contribute to a bid that is estimated to be worth around 1 billion euros (850.3 million pounds).
Flagship carrier Alitalia has been run by administrators since 2017 after workers rejected a previous rescue plan.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; editing by Francesco Guarascio)
PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus on Thursday declined to say whether it was interested in buying Bombardier’s Belfast plant after the Canadian firm put it up for sale, but described the Northern Ireland facility as a “key supplier”.
An Airbus spokesman noted the plant makes wings for the A220, formerly known as the CSeries, which Airbus bought from Bombardier last year, and some engine casings for the Airbus A320 family.
Industry sources say the plant uses new technology for carbon fibre wings that could interest Airbus for a future A320 replacement and other long-term projects.
Bombardier’s sale of its Belfast wing and structure-making operation, the largest high-tech manufacturer in Northern Ireland, has stunned workers. They have called on the British government to retain jobs, with the plant employing 3,600 people.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Matthias Blamont)
MONTREAL (Reuters) – Canada’s Bombardier Inc said on Thursday it would unite its corporate and regional jet-making units into a single aviation division, as it continues focusing on its strongest businesses while shedding aerostructure facilities in Belfast and Morocco.
The announcement comes ahead of an annual general meeting later in the day, where the plane and train maker is expected to face questions from investors on whether its turnaround plan is still on track as its transportation unit grapples with delayed rail contracts.
Investors were rattled last week when Bombardier cut its first-quarter and full-year revenue targets for the transportation division, its largest unit, raising concerns over whether it will still meet its 2020 targets of boosting margins and generating $20 billion (£15 billion) in revenue.
Bombardier on Thursday posted first-quarter revenue and profit, in line with revised expectations issued a week ago, when it sharply cut estimates for full-year profit and revenue.
It had slashed its full-year transportation revenue forecast by almost 8 percent to about $8.75 billion.
The company said in a statement it was making progress toward completing five long-term rail projects that have been marred in some cases by delivery delays and production problems, but these would take a few more quarters for completion.
Bombardier’s planned sale of its Belfast wing and structure-making operation, the largest high-tech manufacturer in Northern Ireland which employs 3,600, stunned workers who called on the British government to retain jobs.
A separate facility which produces aeronautical-equipment in Morocco will also be sold.
Under Chief Executive Alain Bellemare, Bombardier has been selling off businesses, including the money-losing Q400 turboprop program, to focus on more profitable units like rail and corporate jets.
The rail division, which is expected to generate $10 billion next year, is crucial to Bombardier’s five-year turnaround plan, after heavy investment in aircraft production drove it to the brink of bankruptcy in 2015.
Besides creating a single aviation division headed by business aircraft president, David Coleal, the company said it will consolidate its five aerostructures businesses to focus on facilities in Montreal, Mexico and its newly acquired Global 7500 business jet wing operations in Texas.
Bombardier’s commercial aircraft president Fred Cromer will continue to lead efforts as the company weighs the future of its money-losing regional jet program.
Some investors have questioned Bombardier’s credibility in revising its financial guidance after a recent debt raise.
“The concern, particularly after the March debt raise, is whether management remains committed to its longer term 2020 guidance,” said Toronto-based AltaCorp analyst Capital Chris Murray by email.
“We expect that during that process, the company had reiterated prior 2019 guidance, which it changed last week, adding to concern on the part of bondholders.”
A Bombardier spokesman declined to comment and said management would address questions at the meeting.
Bombardier said it continues to expect full-year free cash flow to be breakeven, plus or minus $250 million, as Global 7500 aircraft and key transportation project deliveries are expected to accelerate in the second half of the year.
Adjusted core earnings rose by $1 million to $266 million in the three months to March 31, while revenue fell 13 percent to $3.52 billion.
(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal. Additional reporting by Arathy Nair in Bengaluru and Fergal Smith in Toronto; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Bernadette Baum)
FILE PHOTO: Logo of Bombardier is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
SEATTLE (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday said it was mandating new flight control software and parts to Boeing Co’s 787 Dreamliner to address what it called an unsafe operating condition of certain products on the plane.
The FAA’s airworthiness directive to plane operators makes compulsory changes Boeing outlined in service bulletins in 2017 and early 2018 for certain areas in 787’s tire and wheel “threat zones” that may be susceptible to damage, the company said.
Boeing, which works closely with the FAA to monitor its fleet for potential safety issues, said: “This issue has been long since resolved with system improvements that have been incorporated into production for all 787 models.”
The FAA said damage to the 787’s tire and wheel “threat zones” could result in the loss of braking and steering power on the ground at certain speeds.
The FAA said it requires installing hydraulic tubing, a pressure-operated check valve and new flight control software.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; editing by James Dalgleish and Cynthia Osterman)
LONDON (Reuters) – Thomas Cook has set a deadline of May 7 for expressions of interest in its airline business, with Indigo Partners and Lufthansa among the likely bidders, sources said.
The heavily-indebted British travel group put its profitable airline business up for sale in February after profit warnings in 2018 left it needing to raise cash.
Thomas Cook’s airlines business consists of Germany’s Condor, as well as British, Scandinavian and Spanish operations.
A sale of the business, in whole or in part, would enable the world’s oldest tour operator to invest more in its own hotels and improve its online sales.
A source familiar with the discussions said that Indigo and Germany’s Lufthansa appeared most interested in the business.
British Airways owner IAG should not be ruled out and easyJet has engaged in talks but is seen as less interested, the source added.
It is not clear whether Ireland’s Ryanair would bid.
Another source said that private equity groups KKR and Apollo might also look at taking over the whole of Thomas Cook.
The airlines business would provide access to valuable European slots linking Britain to Spain, Greece and Turkey.
Thomas Cook, Indigo, IAG and easyJet declined to comment, while Lufthansa and Ryanair were not immediately available.
Lufthansa executives have said repeatedly that the German airline wants to “play an active role” in consolidation.
Indigo, the private equity firm managed by Bill Franke, the veteran U.S. low-cost airline investor, has previously made investments in several airlines including Hungary’s Wizz.
Thomas
Cook has been revamping different parts of its business this year,
closing high street stores and reviewing its money division as it
focuses on holidays.
The company was hit badly in 2018 when a hot European summer deterred customers from booking holidays through the year.
One banking source said the airline would fetch less than 1 billion euros (£859 million). Thomas Cook has a current market value of just over £400 million.
Sources said that competition issues could influence which parts of the business different suitors go for.
Sky News has said China’s Fosun International, a Thomas Cook shareholder, was interested in its tour business.
(Reporting by Kate Holton and Clara Denina in London; additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Georgina Prodhan in London and Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; Editing by Alexander Smith)
FILE PHOTO: A Thomas Cook Airbus A321-200 airplane takes off at the airport in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, July 28, 2018. REUTERS/Paul Hanna/File Photo
(Reuters) – Boeing Co’s largest supplier Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc reported strong first-quarter results on Wednesday, while following the planemaker in suspending its full-year outlook in the face of the global grounding of 737 MAX jets.
The crisis with Boeing’s most popular aircraft has thrown into doubt orders for a raft of parts makers who have been investing heavily to meet record-breaking demand from the world’s biggest planemaker over the past two years.
Spirit, which makes fuselage, structural engine components and wing parts for the MAX, did a deal with Boeing last month to stick to its current parts delivery schedules for now, and its profits in the first quarter were up 30 percent, according to Wednesday’s quarterly results.
Boeing however has announced cutbacks in its monthly production of MAX jets to 42 from 52 and while it says it is nearing certification for a software fix for the jet, airlines are assuming the planes will not be back in the air before August.
Spirit said with the uncertainty around MAX production it could not stand by its previous full-year outlook which had factored production for MAX jets rising to 57 units per month in June.
“As we now expect to remain at 52 aircraft per month for some period of time, (prior) guidance does not reflect our current outlook,” Spirit Chief Executive Officer Tom Gentile said, adding he was waiting for more clarity from Boeing on MAX’s return to service.
MAX’s other major supplier General Electric Co, which makes engines with Safran SA of France, on Tuesday stuck to its full-year forecasts, while highlighting risk due to MAX’s reduced production.
Another MAX supplier United Technologies Corp last month included an up to 10 cents per share impact in its full-year profit outlook from the groundings of the jet, assuming Boeing produced at 42 aircraft per month for the rest of the year.
Spirit, whose shares are down about 10 percent since the fatal crash of the Ethiopian Airlines’ jet on March 10, rose as much as 3.5 percent to $89.96 in morning trade.
“Given that (Spirit’s) shares have already notably sold off, we think much of this … has been discounted into the price,” Vertical Research Partners Krishna Sinha said.
The company said it has taken actions including deferring capital investments and pausing hiring and share repurchases to mitigate the financial impact of the MAX production change.
On an adjusted basis, Spirit earned $1.68 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.64 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Total revenue rose 13.4 percent to $1.97 billion (£1.51 billion), beating estimates of $1.93 billion.
(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
April 29 (Reuters) – Canadian National Railway Co reported a 6 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday, as it transported higher volumes of petroleum and chemical products.
U.S. listed shares of the company rose 2.1 percent in after-hours trading.
The company’s net income rose to C$786 million, or C$1.08 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from C$741 million, or C$1 per share, a year earlier.
However, excluding one-time items, the railroad company earned C$1.17 per share, missing the analyst average estimate of C$1.18, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Canada’s largest railway operator said total carloads, the amount of freight loaded into cars, rose less than a percent.
Operating ratio, a closely watched productivity metric that measures expenses as a percentage of revenue, rose to 69.5 percent from 67.8 percent a year earlier. The lower the ratio, the more efficient a railroad.
($1 = C$1.34)
(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
April 29 (Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Monday it did not “intentionally or otherwise” deactivate a safety alert for its angle-of-attack sensors on its 737 MAX aircraft, responding to reports the planemaker failed to tell Southwest Airlines Co and the U.S aviation regulator that the safety feature was deactivated before recent crashes.
“The disagree alert was tied or linked into the angle of attack indicator, which is an optional feature on the MAX. Unless an airline opted for the angle of attack indicator, the disagree alert was not operable,” Boeing said in a statement.
It said the disagree alert is not necessary for the safe operation of the airplane.
The company said following software modifications all new MAX aircraft will have an activated and operable disagree alert and an optional angle of attack indicator, while current MAX airplanes will have the ability to activate the disagree alert.
Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg was grilled at a press conference earlier on Monday, following two fatal crashes of the 737 MAX plane.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) – Facing tough competition from China, the United States and even tiny Luxembourg, Germany is racing to draft new laws and attract private investment to secure a slice of an emerging space market that could be worth $1 trillion a year by the 2040’s.
The drive to give Germany a bigger role in space comes as European, Asian and U.S. companies stake out ground in an evolving segment that promises contracts for everything from exploration to mining of outer-space resources.
Firms likely to benefit from any future spending rise in Germany include Airbus, which co-owns the maker of Europe’s Ariane space rockets, and Bremen-based OHB.
The new legislation would limit financial and legal liabilities of private companies should accidents happen in orbit, set standards for space operations and offer incentives for new projects, the German economy ministry told Reuters.
The ministry’s aerospace and space commissioner, Thomas Jarzombek, could submit the laws to parliament later this year. The move comes as companies and trade groups press for German authorities to establish a regulatory framework for the lucrative new market to encourage private investment.
“We are sounding the alarm that Germany and Europe are falling behind in space vis-a-vis China and the United States,” Dirk Hoke, defence and space chief at Franco-German-led aerospace group Airbus, told Reuters. “We’re at a critical juncture to ensure we stay in the top league.”
Germany is Europe’s economic powerhouse and the world’s fourth-largest economy. However it had just the world’s seventh-largest national space budget in 2018, an estimated $1.1 billion, just over half the amount generated by fifth-placed France, according to preliminary data from Paris-based research firm Euroconsult.
FILE PHOTO: A Norwegian Air Boeing 737-800 is seen during the presentation of Norwegian Air first low cost transatlantic flight service from Argentina at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci/File Photo
OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air has agreed with Airbus and Boeing to reschedule delivery of aircraft to cut capital spending, the loss-making budget carrier said on Wednesday.
In total, the announced restructurings and postponements of Boeing and Airbus aircraft delivery will reduce capital expenditure for 2019 and 2020 by $2.1 billion, it said.
The Oslo-listed airline has shaken up the long-haul market by offering cut-price transatlantic fares, but its rapid expansion has left it with hefty losses and high debts.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
