National Post - Financial Post Magazine
PLANES, TRAINS AND DELAYS
Bombardier Inc. (No. 15) may have plenty of well-publicized problems, but its revenues actually grew 4.5% to $23.2 billion last year and it’s still far and away the largest high-tech manufacturer in the country. Indeed, only auto-parts maker Magna International Inc. (No. 3) is bigger in the broader manufacturing space. However, Bombardier’s troubles show up more obviously in its net income, which dropped 390.8% to post a loss of $6.8 billion, following a $1.4-billion loss the year before. A $1-billion lifeline from the Quebec government, which in return gets a 49.5% stake in a limited partnership that houses the CSeries airplane program, shored up the company’s dwindling cash position, but there were still calls for the federal government to match that suspect investment. The CSeries program has been beset by delays, faulty planes and, until recently, a lack of orders. But the trains division of the company isn’t any better. Just ask the Toronto Transit Commission (No. 286), which is still waiting for its order of 75 streetcars to be delivered. So far, just 17 have made their way to Toronto and the transit authority has a lot of questions about the quality of Bombardier’s products. Another 204 low-floor streetcars, costing $1.2 billion, are due by 2019. Good luck in getting those on time.