Boeing reduced its losses to $2.222 billion before the 737 Max 9 incident

Before a piece of an Alaska Airlines 737-9 Max plane blew up in mid-flight, Boeing appeared to be taking off financially.

Waiting to see the impact that the episode will have on its production process and customer trust, the company closed the last year with losses of 2,222 million dollars (about 2,050 million euros).

Although these are red numbers, their amount is less than half of the $4,935 million in losses from the previous year.

In addition, income was growing and cash generation had accelerated, according to the accounts published this Wednesday by the company.

Now, Boeing has avoided giving forecasts for the current year.

There are some positive signs.

Boeing's revenues grow by 17% in 2023 as a whole, to $77,794 million, operating losses are reduced by 78%, to $773 million, and operating cash flow soars by 70% in the year, to $5,960. millions of dollars.

If the magnifying glass is placed on the accounts for the last quarter of the year, the operating result is positive, with profits of 283 million (compared to losses of 345 million a year before), the net loss is reduced from 634 to 23 million dollars and the commercial aircraft division achieved profits.

Revenue from that commercial aircraft division increased 13% in the fourth quarter, to $10,481 million, with an operating profit of $41 million, partly due to lower extraordinary costs.

“As we report our financial results today, our focus is squarely on taking comprehensive steps to strengthen quality at Boeing, including listening to the views of our 737 employees who do this job every day,” said Dave Calhoun. , president and CEO of Boeing, through a statement.

“As we move forward, we will support our customers, work transparently with our regulator and ensure we complete all actions to earn the trust of our stakeholders.”

“While we often use this time of year to share or update our financial and operational goals, now is not the time for that,” Calhoun told employees in a memo cited by Bloomberg.

Investors are used to carefully studying the company's financial indicators and annual objectives.

The fourth-quarter report is especially important as the planemaker typically presents an annual forecast for cash flows and deliveries for its two most important products, the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner.

The company is avoiding those forecasts this time to focus on guaranteeing the safety and quality of its planes.

Calhoun will have a conference with analysts this Wednesday to discuss 2023 results and the possible impacts of the 737 Max 9 incident on the current fiscal year results.

The company is taking steps to strengthen quality in the 737 program, including additional inspections at its factory and at major suppliers, increased oversight by airlines, and decided to halt 737 production for one day to refocus. its employees in quality.

Boeing has also appointed an outside expert to lead an in-depth independent evaluation of the quality management system.

The 737 program continues to deliver aircraft and its production rate is now 38 per month.

The production rate of the 787 program is now five per month.

During 2023, Boeing delivered 528 commercial aircraft and added 1,576 net orders.

The company's total order book increased to $520 billion, including more than 5,600 commercial aircraft valued at $441 billion.

For Boeing it is its fifth consecutive year of losses.

Since the catastrophic accidents of the 737 Max in 2018, it has not raised its head and when it seemed ready, the new incident has occurred, although much less serious than those.

The company already suffered losses of 636 million in 2019, which worsened to the record of 11,873 million dollars in 2020. It then lost 4,202 million in 2021 and 4,935 million in 2022. With the results of 2023, it has lost about 23,800 million dollars in five years.

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