Bombardier has announced that it is investing Cdn$330-396 million this year in its train building operations.
The company will increase the capacity of at Bombardier Transportation, its largest division, by investing in manufacturing and software engineering. Bombardier Transportation is suffering a Cdn$44.4 billion order bottleneck affecting major contracts in the UK and Germany, among others. CEO Alain Bellemare said the glitches are “mostly on the software side.”
After largely divesting itself of its commercial aviation business, which was sold in June to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for Cdn$726 million, Bombardier is trying to renew its focus on rail and business jets.
In July Bombardier also announced plans to lay off half of the 1100-strong workforce at its manufacturing plant in Thunder Bay, ON. Major contracts for Toronto Transit Commission streetcars and Metrolinx GO Transit rail cars will be winding down by the end of the year.
The announcement of the new investments came as the company released its financial results for the second quarter of 2019. These included a Cdn$47 million net loss and a Cdn$62 million adjusted loss for the quarter ended June 30, Canadian Press reported. The news slammed Bombardier share prices, which dropped almost 16 per cent.
All dollar figures converted from $USD.
