Before part of an Alaska Airlines 737-9 Max plane exploded mid-flight, Boeing appeared to be on the mend financially. Waiting to see what impact the episode would have on its production process and customer confidence, the company ended last year with a loss of $2,222 million (around €2,050 million). Although these are in the red, the amount is less than half of the $4,935 million in losses from the previous year. Additionally, revenue increased and cash generation accelerated, according to financial statements released by the company on Wednesday. Boeing is now refraining from providing forecasts for the current year.
There are some positive signs. Boeing's full-year 2023 revenue grows 17% to $77,794 million, operating losses are reduced by 78% to $773 million, and operating cash flow increases 70% for the year to $5,960 million. If we look at the balance sheet for the last quarter of the year, the operating result is positive, with a profit of 283 million (compared to losses of 345 million a year earlier), the net loss narrows from 634 to 23 million dollars and the commercial aircraft division profits achieved. This commercial aircraft division's fourth-quarter revenue increased 13% to $10,481 million, with 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 hearing the views of our 737 employees who do this work 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 take all measures 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 to do so,” Calhoun told employees in a memo cited by Bloomberg. Investors are used to carefully studying the company's financial indicators and annual targets. The fourth-quarter report is particularly important because the aircraft maker typically provides annual guidance 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 ensuring the safety and quality of its aircraft. Calhoun will hold a conference call with analysts this Wednesday to discuss 2023 results and the potential impact of the 737 Max 9 incident on current fiscal year results.
The company is taking steps to improve quality in the 737 program, including additional inspections at its factory and key suppliers, increased oversight by airlines and the decision to halt 737 production for a day to focus its employees on quality. Boeing also hired an outside expert to lead an in-depth, independent review of its quality management system. The 737 program continues to deliver aircraft and the production rate is now 38 per month. The 787 program production rate is now five per month.
In 2023, Boeing delivered 528 commercial aircraft and added 1,576 net orders. The company's total backlog rose to $520 billion, including more than 5,600 commercial aircraft valued at $441 billion.
It is the fifth year of losses in a row for Boeing. She hasn't raised her head since the catastrophic 737 Max accidents in 2018, and just when it seemed she was ready, the new incident occurred, albeit much less serious than this one. The company already suffered losses of $636 million in 2019, which worsened to a record $11,873 million in 2020. Then in 2021 it lost $4,202 million and in 2022 it lost $4,935 million. With the results of 2023, it has lost around 23,800 million dollars in 5 years.
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