Non buone le notizie provenienti da Boeing sullo stato dell'industria dei commercial airplanes: sebbene la società abbia un backlog molto consistente ed assuma di non aver subito alcuna richiesta di cancellazione di ordini per aerei dei quali si prevede la consegna per l'anno in corso, le clausole contrattuali previste nei contratti di acquisizione ordini fanno sì che i prezzi corrisposti dai clienti al delivery possano variare in funzione di alcuni fattori (fra i quali i costi di materie prime).
Ebbene, questi fattori attualmente incidono negativamente sui prezzi finali, determinandone un calo, e così di conseguenza viene a ridursi il margine di profitto unitario sul valore delle vendite di questi aerei (che generano il 50% del fatturato di Boeing, secondo MarketWatch).
In aggiunta ad un segnalato rallentamento della domanda, in termini di nuovi ordini, la Boeing prevede un rallentamento dei ritmi produttivi nella realizzazione di alcuni modelli di aerei a partire dal giugno 2010 e intende ritardare un incremento della produzione di altri modelli, come invece precedentemente preventivato.
Boeing earnings to be hit by production changes
By
Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch
Last update: 6:33 p.m. EDT April 9, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Boeing said Thursday afternoon is it slowing commercial airplane production due to sluggish demand, a move that will result in a sizeable hit to first quarter earnings. Boeing shares fell in late trading.
Boeing said it will cut production of 777s to five airplanes a month from seven beginning in June 2010, and will delay plans to "modestly increase" production of 747-8 and 767 planes.
This, on top of significant declines in escalation clauses that affect the price Boeing fetches for delivering a plane, will reduce Boeing's first quarter earnings by 38 cents a share.
The Chicago-based aerospace giant is forecast to earn $1.22 a share for the first quarter, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Research. Analysts peg sales at $16.3 billion.
Boeing will issue first quarter results April 22 and update its full year forecast then.
The company has run into stiffer headwinds as airline operators face declining traffic and struggle to be profitable.
For 2009, Boeing forecast Jan. 28 commercial deliveries in the range of 480 to 485 planes, up from the 375 airplanes delivered last year.
Last September, the company's largest labor group went on strike, curtailing plane deliveries.
For this year, Boeing said no delivery orders for its 767, 747, or 777 models have been cancelled. The company delivered 121 planes in the first quarter. Its total commercial airline backlog consists of more than 3,500 orders.
Commercial airplane sales account for almost half of the Boeing's total revenue.
Boeing puts escalation clauses into its delivery contracts since airplane orders are made at least five years in advance. The clauses account for labor, material, and other costs. The value of a delivery contract can either grow, decline, or remain the same, spokesman Russ Young said.
Airlines pay Boeing a deposit when the order is made and Boeing gets the bulk of the payment on delivery.
Boeing shares closed Thursday at $39.15, up 6%. The stock, one of 30 components in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has dropped 8% so far this year, in step with the Dow's decline.