Obbligazioni societarie Monitor Bond Industria Aeronautica Worldwide e Linee Aeree Europee

[lorenzo63]

Intanto Air france ritira l' offerta dalle linee aeree Ceche...

LONDON -- Air France-KLM Wednesday said it was withdrawing from the tender to privatize CSA Czech Airlines due to the downturn in the industry, leaving only one remaining bidder and throwing the process into doubt.

The Czech government in June extended the deadline for final bids in the privatization of Czech Airlines to Sept. 15, from July 13, to give the bidders more time to value the company and prepare offers. The Czech cabinet was expected to examine the bids Sept. 30.

The government had chosen Air France-KLM and a consortium of Czech financial firm Unimex and charter airline Travel Service for the privatization's shortlist. Icelandic airline Iceland Air Group Holding is a shareholder in Travel Service.

However, Air France-KLM said it now believes that "CSA might focus on developing and implementing a stand-alone recovery plan aimed at restoring its profitability."

The airline industry is going through one of its worst ever downturns, with passenger numbers and cargo volumes tumbling due to the economic downturn and credit crunch. Airlines are seeing profits drop sharply or turn to losses as a result.

In May, Czech Airlines reported that its pretax loss widened to 1.32 billion koruna ($72.8 million) in the first quarter, from an 844 million-koruna loss a year earlier as passenger numbers fell 12%. It had predicted that it would swing back to a profit in 2010 unless there was a significant worsening of the economy.

Air France-KLM, meanwhile, swung to a fiscal first-quarter net loss of €426 million ($601.9 million), as the economic crisis and €252 million of fuel-hedging losses hit hard. The Franco-Dutch airline forecast continued deterioration in its passenger business in the second quarter and said the declining trend in its cargo business will continue into the fiscal second half, when the situation should gradually stabilize.

The Czech state had hoped to generate about $270 million by selling its 91.5% stake in Czech Airlines, which is a member of the Air France-KLM-led Sky Team alliance. A winning bidder will be required to maintain the Czech carrier's national airline status and keep its base at Prague Ruzyne international airport.

Air France-KLM said it hoped it could cooperate even more closely with the Czech carrier even though it will not now acquire the airline. In July, it was announced that Czech Airlines had won a tender to provide passenger handling services for Air France-KLM in Prague.

 

[Imark]

Cancellazione pesante per il backlog dei business jets di Bombardier... vengono meno molti veivoli da vendere (110 ordinativi, di cui 25 firm orders e 85 conditional orders), per un controvalore complessivo di 1,5 mld $...

• AUGUST 20, 2009, 11:32 A.M. ET

Bombardier Cancels Another Jet Deal

By JUDY MCKINNON

Bombardier Inc. said Thursday it has terminated a $1.5 billion deal with private-jet charter company Jet Republic for 110 Learjet 60 XR aircraft.
The cancellation comes a little over a week after the Montreal aircraft and rail equipment company ended a purchase agreement with Italian airline My Way Airlines, citing that carrier's "uncertain situation.

Bombardier didn't provide a reason for terminating the Jet Republic order, though the Lisbon-based carrier has been struggling to line up financing.
When Jet Republic signed the deal in June 2008, the order was described as the largest European business aircraft order ever. It included 25 firm orders and 85 conditional orders.

Jet Republic was launched a year ago, bucking the gloom of the global economic slowdown, including weakened demand for high-end products and services. Jet Republic was scheduled to begin using the Learjet fleet in October.

The order cancellation raises questions about whether Bombardier will experience further backlog erosion as the business-jet slump continues, Versant Partners analyst Cameron Doerksen wrote in a research note Thursday.

Bombardier said it remains committed to the Learjet 60 XR program and production of the aircraft at its Learjet facility in Wichita, Kan., continues as planned

 

[mostromarino]

consegne airbus e boiiiiinnnnnnggggg

)per chi tengo???)




http://www.anna.aero/2009/07/10/airbus-and-boeing-deliveries-reach-94pc-in-june/

 

[Imark]

Il peso degli acquirenti il cui core business consiste in pratiche di fractional ownership (una sorta di multiproprietà del business jet), di chartering, di air taxi e analoghe nel volume degli ordinativi di Bombardier e di Embraer per il segmento dei business jets.

Il mercato in precedenza cartolarizzava i finanziamenti elargiti ai fractional owner, mentre oggi la ricettività nulla verso questo genere di crediti "asset backed" rende molto contenuta la disponibilità di credito: ne risultano penalizzati sia gli operatori del settore che i costruttori dei mezzi.

• AUGUST 20, 2009, 3:52 P.M. ET

Jet Republic Unit Suspends Operations; Bombardier Drops Order

By Doug Cameron and Judy McKinnon
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Jet Republic said Thursday it has shelved its European business jet operation, prompting Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.T) to terminate a $1.5 billion order for 110 aircraft from the Portuguese company.

The private jet charter company said it has suspended its core Portuguese operations until further notice, citing tough financing conditions for potential aircraft owners.

The move comes amid a slide in demand for business travel that has seen orders at the main aircraft manufacturers tumble and raised questions about the robustness of the backlogs at Bombardier and Embraer (ERJ).

Jet Republic ordered 110 Learjet 60 XR aircraft from Bombardier in 2008, and planned to start using the Learjets from October, with four arriving by the end of the year and 10 more in 2010.

The company launched last year with a so-called fractional ownership business similar to the NetJets concept controlled by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB), in which customers buy a share in a plane and pay usage fees.

"Until very recently, we remained very confident of meeting our objectives, but the aviation asset finance market has completely dried up making it much more difficult for potential clients to take out and obtain financing for fractional ownership of jets," said Jet Republic in an emailed statement.

"Our holding company is fully operational and will work closely with our shareholders to ensure that the interests of our existing clients, employees and suppliers are protected to the best of our ability."

Jetbird, another European business jet start-up, said Thursday that it still planned to launch services in late September from its base at Germany's Cologne-Bonn airport. The air-taxi operator has firm orders for 59 Embraer Phenom 100 jets and an option on a further 41 aircraft.

Bombardier and Embraer have relied heavily on the charter, taxi and fractional ownership markets for orders. According to Desjardins Securities, Bombardier has two other large business-jet orders outstanding: one for 20 firm orders from XOJET for the Challenger 300 and one for 30 firm orders from VistaJet, which includes 24 Learjets. Both XOJET and VistaJet are private companies that run similar operations to Jet Republic, Desjardins noted.

"While the cancellation is a negative, we believe Bombardier retains a strong backlog that should allow the company to manage through this current downturn," CIBC World Markets Inc.'s Chris Murray said in a report.

Analysts say the company is forecasting a 25% decline in business-jet deliveries in fiscal 2010, but some believe its production will need to be reduced further. Bombardier said it remains committed to the Learjet 60 XR program and production of the aircraft at its Learjet facility in Wichita, Kan., continues as planned.

 

[mostromarino]

Giovedì 27 Agosto 2009, 16:49

Boeing: primo volo 787 entro l'anno

(ANSA) - NEW YORK 27 AGO - Il primo volo del 787 Dreamliner sara' effettuato entro la fine del 2009; il primo velivolo sara' consegnato nel quarto trimestre 2010. Lo afferma Boeing. 'La nuova pianificazione ci da' il tempo necessario per completare il lavoro per consegnare il 787 nelle mani dei consumatori', afferma il presidente e amministratore delegato di Boeing, Jim McNerney. 'Il programma 787 - aggiunge - non sara' in perdita'

 

[Imark]

Bombardier fra chiari e scuri ... si conferma ad ogni buon conto una società ben gestita. Approfondimento nei prox giorni...

• SEPTEMBER 2, 2009, 11:38 A.M. ET

2nd UPDATE Bombardier 2Q Net Beats Views, Shrs Rise

(Updates with stock-price activity in paragraph 2, analyst commentary in paragraph 6, additional earnings detail, rewrites throughout.)
By Monica Gutschi
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B.T) shares are higher Wednesday as the Montreal transportation giant managed to beat expectations in the second quarter despite the aerospace industry's major downturn. Its train unit outperformed.

In Toronto, Bombardier B shares are up 22 Canadian cents or 5.7% to C$4.05 on 10.4 million shares.

The provider of airplanes and rail-transportation equipment earned $202 million or 11 cents a share in the latest quarter, down from $259 million or 14 cents a share a year earlier. However, that was above analyst forecasts of 9 cents a share.

Revenue of $4.95 billion was in line with the $4.93 billion recorded a year earlier and substantially above expectations of $4.61 billion.

Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, totaled $18 million at quarter-end, down from $99 million a year earlier but also well ahead of analyst expectations of negative cash flow.

"Overall, it is clear Bombardier is managing through the downturn quite well," said David Newman of National Bank Financial, who upgraded the company to outperform from sector perform. He also raised his target on the stock to C$5.50 from C$4.25.

Among the biggest surprises, Bombardier announced it had delivered 80 aircraft in the second quarter compared to 89 a year earlier. UBS analyst Fadi Chamoun had expected 70 deliveries.

As well, the company announced that even though it had 38 more cancellations than orders for new aircraft in the period, it appears to be holding up well compared to its peers. According to the General Aviation Manufacturers Associtaion, its market share in business aircraft rose to 35% in the first half of 2009 from 26% in all of 2008.

"Bombardier seems to struggle and always get through it," said Fred Ketchen, managing director of stock trading at Scotia Capital, who owns the company's shares. "They seem to always land on their feet, even when you don't expect it to happen."

Aerospace operations contributed $2.40 billion to revenue in the latest quarter, down from $2.52 billion a year earlier, hurt by a drop in manufacturing revenue due to lower deliveries and selling prices for business aircraft. Rail-transportation operations added $2.55 billion versus $2.42 billion.

Overall backlog totaled $47.5 billion at quarter-end, compared with an order backlog of $26.1 billion as of July 31, 2008 and $48.2 billion at the end of January.

Bombardier's aerospace EBIT margin totaled 6.4% in the quarter compared with 9.7% a year earlier. It said business aircraft cancellations continued to exceed the level of new orders, while lower passenger traffic and airline profitability remain a concern in the commercial aircaft operation. The company announced earlier this year that it would reduce its business jet production by 25%.

The 80 aircraft deliveries consisted of 51 business, 28 commercial and one amphibious aircraft. That compares to 66 business jets and 23 commercial aircraft a year ago.

Aerospace recorded 38 negative net orders in the latest quarter, including 80 cancelled business aircraft orders, compared with 175 net orders a year earlier. The cancellations include a cancelled order from upstart fractional operator Jet Republic. The $1.5 billion order for 110 aircraft from the Portuguese company included 25 firm orders that were removed from the backlog.

In its transportation division, Bombardier said EBIT margin reached 6.2%, compared with 5.3% a year earlier. The division received new orders worth $3 billion, up from $2.1 billion a year earlier. Tuesday, Bombardier announced a $431 million contract to provide 99 Flexity Berlin trams to Berliner Verkehrsbetriebeapproval, or BVG, Berlin's transport operator.

Bombardier's board has approved a $500 million, two-year unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of commercial banks and other institutions, arranged by National Bank Financial Inc.

 

[Imark]

Tracollo dei bond 6,5% Lufthansa 2016 sui mercati tedeschi, sotto di quasi due punti pct in poche ore, sulla scorta di un outlook poco lusinghiero sull'andamento del comparto da parte dei tedeschi. Ora sembra riprendersi un momento dai minimi...

Acquisita Austrian Airlines, sarà piuttosto faticoso risalire la china della profittevolezza per questa società, che porta con sé, insieme all'esigenza di ridurre i costi, anche una esposizione ai mercati esteuropei che rischia di risultare problematica negli anni a venire...

• SEPTEMBER 3, 2009, 8:55 A.M. ET

UPDATE:Lufthansa CEO: To Pursue Cost Cuts Across Own Ops, AUA

(Rewrites and updates adding extra comment, detail.)


VIENNA (Dow Jones)--German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) will pursue further cost cuts in its operations and within its new acquisition Austrian Airlines AG (AUA.VI) as it anticipates continued tough times for the aviation industry, Lufthansa's chief executive said Thursday.

Speaking to journalists in Vienna after the signing of the Austrian Airlines deal, CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber raised further job cuts as a possibility, saying "only profitable jobs are safe jobs."

He doesn't expect a marked improvement in revenue or demand for flights in the near future, adding: "In the near and middle term, we will have to make do with the level we have now."

Mayrhuber expects the highly indebted and loss-making Austrian carrier to have positive cash flow in 2010, but actual profitability could take longer as it would also depend on unpredictable factors such as fuel price developments and flight demand.

"We will get to work now to set a target for turning Austrian Airlines to profitability as soon as possible," he said.

Austrian Airlines' Co-Chief Executive, Andreas Bierwirth said cost cuts had already been made, but more were needed.

"We intend to grow in the future, but we can't start growing until the company is operationally profitable, and that must be achieved through the reduction of costs," he said.

Austrian Airlines will prepare a business plan for the coming year, which includes flight network adjustments, cost cut efforts, product developments and results targets. The plan will be presented in four to six weeks time, Bierwirth said.

Austrian Airlines was put up for sale after suffering a hit from fuel prices and later from dwindling passenger numbers.

Lufthansa won the tender for the Austrian state's 41.6% stake in Lufthansa last year and declared it would offer EUR4.49 for each outstanding share in a public offer for the free float. The deal needed European Union Commission approval, which was given on the condition Austrian Airlines shed some flight capacity.

Lufthansa said earlier Thursday it now has more than 90% of the share capital and intends to squeeze out the remaining minority shareholders.
Without detailing the intended squeeze-out offer, Mayrhuber said the remaining shareholders will be offered less than the EUR4.49 a share paid to shareholders which took the initial offer.

Mayrhuber said Austrian Airlines, with its strong focus on Eastern European destinations, offers a good product in terms of service and route network, but it "has a cost problem" which needs dealing with.

To Lufthansa, a main asset of Austrian Air is its Eastern European medium- and short-haul routes.

Lufthansa also intends to keep Austrian Air's long-haul route network largely intact, Mayrhuber said.

He said Lufthansa's buying spree of the past year, according to the current plans, ended with the purchase of Austrian Airlines.

 

[Imark]

Forecast di EADS sul mercato degli aerei commerciali all'insegna di due anni di debolezza... anche il target di raggiungimento di ordini fermi per 300 nuovi aerei nel 2009 rischia di non essere conseguito, in quanto per ora siamo alla metà.

D'altronde, già i nuovi ordini per 300 mezzi si sarebbero confrontati con i 777 acquisiti nel 2008 ed i 1.458 del 2007, come a dire che l'obiettivo non era particolarmente ambizioso.

Le difficoltà saranno accresciute dalle perdite delle compagnie aree, che l'anno scorso si attestarono a 8,5 mld $ mentre quest'anno un campione di 50 compagnie aeree monitorata da IATA, al termine del primo semestre, avevano già totalizzato perdite per 6 mld $ e il forecast IATA per perdite di settore pari a 9 mld $ quest'anno dovranno probabilmente essere riviste in quanto troppo ottimistiche.

EADS continua ad oggi a giovarsi di un backlog molto robusto, pari a 3.500 aerei, ovvero a 7 anni di produzione.

Emerge con una certa chiarezza un tratto del comparto che va sempre tenuto presente dagli investitori: è un segmento che risente per ultimo del declino della congiuntura economica, ma che è anche fra gli ultimi a risollevarsi dopo che la ripresa è ripartita.

Commercial Jet Market Awaits Recovery, EADS Says (Update1)

By Andrea Rothman

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The market for commercial jets has yet to recover and airlines may be less inclined to take new aircraft in the next year or two as they grapple with the decline in global traffic, the head of Airbus SAS’s parent said.

“The market isn’t dead, we have some campaigns, but it’s not extremely active, that’s clear,” European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. Chief Executive

Louis Gallois said in an interview in Paris. “It’s not like two or three years ago.”

Airlines may struggle to keep taking planes next year and in 2011 because of balance sheets weakened by falling traffic, Gallois said. Airbus has so far only secured half of the 300 planned orders it has earmarked for this year, indicating the worst for the industry may not yet be over.

The dearth of orders this year is one indicator a recovery isn’t yet under way, even amid some signs the global economy is emerging from recession, Gallois said. The Toulouse-based company’s planned 2009 contracts compare with 777 in 2008 and 1,458 a year earlier. This year, Airbus intends to deliver more than the 483 airplanes it handed over in 2008, its record year.

Planning beyond the first few months of 2010 remains difficult, Gallois said.

Keep an Edge

“In the beginning of a crisis, airlines try to preserve orders, time schedules for deliveries because they don’t want to change their planning -- they want to keep an edge against competition,” Gallois said. “At the end of the crisis, sometimes, they have to take difficult decisions, they are increasingly short of money.”

Airbus is seeking to adapt to possible changes by asking unionized workers in France, Germany, the U.K. and Spain to accept flexibility in scheduling and pay, it said today. The move would let the company manage ‘any fluctuation of workload, should the need arise,” spokeswoman Anne Galabert said.

Airbus has previously resorted to flexible work schedules to adapt to falling demand, with employees working shorter hours when fewer planes are needed. The approach contrasts with Boeing Co., the world’s second-biggest aircraft maker, which generally fires workers when the market contracts.

Airline Losses

Airlines’ financial performance this year may be worse than last, when the carriers lost as much as $8.5 billion in 2008, the International Air Transport Association said today. A sample of more than 50 airlines surveyed worldwide showed net losses in excess of $6 billion for the first half of this year alone, the group said.

The organization’s most recent forecast for the full year calls for combined losses of $9 billion. An update is scheduled for Sept. 15, and the number so far “‘means IATA’s forecast for the rest of the year is too low,” said Nick Cunningham, an aviation and aerospace analyst at Evolution Securities in London.

Boeing has said it expects to deliver 480 to 485 jets in 2009, about the same as Airbus, before cutting production beginning June 2010 to match lower demand as the recession forces airlines to trim spending. Boeing hasn’t issued a specific target for orders in 2009 or deliveries in 2010.

Sales Campaigns

With more than 3,500 planes in its current backlog --planes ordered but not yet delivered -- Airbus has more than seven years’ production work, Gallois said. Still, new orders are a key indicator for a recovery, he said.
“Certainly we are interested in orders for securing our future, but above all we’re interested in them because it’s a sign that the crisis is behind us,” Gallois said.

China will be the most important market for the future, accounting for 20 percent to 25 percent of the world market within five years, Gallois said. Demand for commercial aircraft in recent years has come most from the Gulf region and Asia.

While Asia has increased its weight in Airbus’s backlog, some of the biggest single orders have come from Mideast carriers such as Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways. Emirates is the largest customer for the A380, with 58 orders of which 54 are outstanding. The airline is also the top customer for Airbus’s A350, with 70 on order.

Old Jets

The U.S. industry, which kept out of the market for the last five years, has the oldest fleets in the world, and will need new planes and eventually return to the market, he said. Only one or two carriers are likely to place any orders of significance in the next year, Gallois predicted.

What looks like a recovery to some may turn out to be only the first reprieve from another dip, Gallois said, as the industry undergoes a cycle that matches the shape of a W.

“We’ll see,” Gallois said. “It’s difficult to have a firm assessment and we have to be ready to face all scenarios”.

 

[Imark]

Tracollo dei bond 6,5% Lufthansa 2016 sui mercati tedeschi, sotto di quasi due punti pct in poche ore, sulla scorta di un outlook poco lusinghiero sull'andamento del comparto da parte dei tedeschi. Ora sembra riprendersi un momento dai minimi...

Acquisita Austrian Airlines, sarà piuttosto faticoso risalire la china della profittevolezza per questa società, che porta con sé, insieme all'esigenza di ridurre i costi, anche una esposizione ai mercati esteuropei che rischia di risultare problematica negli anni a venire...
....

Arriva anche il downgrade di Moody's con conseguente perdita dell'IG... l'agenzia prospetta un miglioramento della situazione nel 2010, seppure in chiave dubitativa, ma cmq non tale da consentire il ripristino di una metrica finanziaria compatibile con un rating non speculativo.

Oltre alla debolezza della performance corrente (il 2009 dovrebbe chiudere con un modesto utile operativo) pesa in prospettiva anche il contributo negativo al merito di credito che sarà apportato inizialmente da Austrian Airlines (attualmente gestita in perdita), sebbene Lufthansa sia accreditata di buone capacità di ristrutturare le società acquistate (come è successo per Swiss, riportata al profitto piuttosto rapidamente dopo l'acquisto nel 2005).

Molto elevata la liquidità disponibile, sebbene destinata ad indebolirsi fra scadenze debitorie e costi di acquisizioni. Il rating è destinato a restare speculativo ancora per almeno un anno, anche nella migliore delle ipotesi, lascia intendere l'agenzia.

Moody's lowers Lufthansa to Ba1/NP; stable outlook

Approximately EUR2.1 Billion of Rated Debt Instruments Affected

New York, September 03, 2009 -- Moody's Investors Service has today lowered the long-term and short-term issuer ratings of Deutsche Lufthansa AG ('Lufthansa', or 'the company') to Ba1/Not-prime from Baa3/Prime-3. At the same time Moody's has withdrawn the long-term issuer rating and assigned a Corporate Family Rating (CFR) and Probability of Default Rating (PDR) at Ba1. The outlook is stable.

The rating action reflects predominantly our view that the very weak market conditions, with pressure on yields and volumes being reflected in the decline in operating profits in both the passenger and cargo divisions, will weaken credit metrics well beyond the parameters that we had set for the previous rating category, notably for debt/EBITDA to remain below 3.5x and for RCF/Net Debt to remain above 25%.

Credit metrics will also be affected to some degree by the company's recent acquisitions. Although we recognise the likelihood of stronger metrics in FY2010 if industry conditions improve, we do not believe that this will be sufficient in the near-term to improve metrics to levels commensurate with an investment grade rating.

We note, nevertheless, the company's continued objective to achieve an operating profit this year, albeit this will be substantially below FY2008. In addition, while the acquisition of Austrian Airlines will weigh negatively on the company's metrics in the near-term, we expect that over time Lufthansa will improve performance at that airline, and note the company's track record in returning Swiss (acquired in 2005) to profitability as well.

Lufthansa's strong liquidity profile continues to be a supporting factor of its rating, with cash and securities reported at EUR4.7 billion as of June 2009, and supplemented by an EUR750 million bond issue subsequently. We believe, however, that this level may decrease going forward due to a combination of acquisitions and debt repayments. The company further reports EUR1.5 billion in committed short-term bilateral credit facilities.

The senior unsecured rating, and the rating of the senior unsecured notes of Ba1 (LGD4, 52%), at the same level as the CFR, reflects the limited amount of structural subordination of the notes within the company's capital structure.

The stable outlook reflects our view that although metrics at the end of 2009 are likely to be weak for the current rating, industry conditions will enable Lufthansa to gradually rebuild its metrics in the course of 2010.

For the stable outlook, we would expect gross leverage to trend towards 5x and for RCF/Net Debt to be in the mid-to high teens, although we do not expect these metrics to be achieved in the current fiscal year.

Downward pressure on the rating or outlook could occur if gross leverage were to remain above 6x on a continued basis, of if there were a substantial deterioration in liquidity.

....

Moody's last rating action on Lufthansa was on 3 August 2009, when Moody's placed the ratings for Lufthansa's under review for possible downgrade.

[FONT=&quot]Lufthansa, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, is a leading European airline. In FY 2008, the company reported EUR 24.9bn and EUR 2.4bn in revenues and EBITDA, respectively. [/FONT]

 

[mostromarino]

Embraer: primo E-170 a British Airways

Embraer ha consegnato a British Airways il suo primo E-170. La macchina, configurata su 76 posti, verrà impiegata dalla controllata regionale BA CityFlyer, che opera collegamenti interni ed internazionali dal London City Airport. Il velivolo fa parte di un ordine annunciato nel dicembre 2008 per sei E-170 e cinque E-190 che prevedeva pure l’opzione per altri tre aerei.