Boeing maintains bullish forecast for 2013
Boeing has predicted a rise in commercial aircraft deliveries and revenues in 2013, despite the current problems being experienced with the B787 Dreamliner.
The US planemaker has released its full-year results, revealing a slight 3% dip in profits, to US$3.9 billion. Overall however, 2012 was a successful year for the company’s commercial division, with aircraft deliveries exceeding 600 for the first time and beating chief rival Airbus for the first time in nearly a decade. This helped Boeing’s revenues increase 10% to US$81.7 million in 2012, with commercial aircraft revenues leaping 36% to US$49.1bn.
The company had now forecast revenues of US$82-85bn for 2013, with commercial aircraft deliveries expected to increase to 635-645. This includes an expected 60 B787 deliveries, despite the fact that all Dreamliner operations and deliveries are currently suspended pending an FAA investigation into problems with the aircraft’s batteries.
Boeing’s Chairman, President & CEO, Jim McNerney, called 2012 “a year of significant growth and solid execution, driving higher earnings”.
“In a year of considerable achievement, Boeing was the commercial aviation market leader for both orders and deliveries, with more than 600 airplanes delivered,” said McNerney. “Significant new international orders… and more than 900 orders for the 737 MAX also contributed to our record company backlog.”
Looking forward to 2013, McNerney added that Boeing’s “first order of business… is to resolve the battery issue on the 787 and return the airplanes safely to service”.
And despite the investigations apparently failing to discover the cause of the problem, Boeing is clearly optimistic that a solution will be found quickly. B787 deliveries for 2013 are expected to almost double from 31 to 60 this year.