Boeing posts loss of nearly $3 billion
Revenue plunged 35 per cent from a year ago for aircraft maker due to grounding of 737 Max
DALLAS — Boeing reported a second-quarter loss of nearly $3 billion as it absorbed the financial damage caused by the grounding of its 737 Max airliner after two deadly crashes.
The giant aircraft maker said Wednesday that revenue plunged 35 per cent from a year earlier, as it was unable to deliver any new Max jets.
Boeing removed much of the suspense from earnings day when it announced last week that it would take a $4.9 billion after-tax charge for the Max and expected the troubled plane to return to service in the fourth quarter.
That charge was calculated from Boeing’s estimate of the cost of compensating airlines for lost use of their Max planes for several months. It did not include Boeing’s potential liability from dozens of lawsuits filed by relatives of the 346 passengers who died in the crashes.
The Max assembly line near Seattle has stayed open, although at a reduced rate. The company even hopes to boost production gradually from the current 42 a month to 57 a month next year, but that assumes the plane will fly and Boeing will soon resume deliveries to airlines — jets have been piling up in Boeing lots since March.
The Chicago-based company said it lost $2.94 billion in the quarter, compared with a profit of $2.20 billion a year earlier. It reported an adjusted loss of $5.82 per share. Revenue tumbled to $15.75 billion from $24.26 billion a year earlier.
The huge charge for the Max caused the quarterly numbers to mean less than usual. Some analysts excluded the charge from their forecast of earnings per share, while others did not, making it difficult if not impossible to judge whether Boeing met, beat or fell short of Wall Street expectations.