Bombardier faces restructuring after losses

Canadian plane, train and bus manufacturer Bombardier has unveiled a $680 million fourth-quarter loss and a restructuring programme…

Canadian plane, train and bus manufacturer Bombardier has unveiled a $680 million fourth-quarter loss and a restructuring programme.

In an widely expected overhaul, Bombardier, the world's third-largest civil aircraft maker and largest manufacturer of trains, will issue stock, sell assets and halve its dividend to shore up its balance sheet after taking some $2 billion Canaidan dollars of write-downs.

The company - which is is Northern Ireland's largest manufacturer, employing 6,000 people - is struggling to cope with a sagging aviation sector and heavy debt

It took the big charges and revised earlier profits downward as it revamped the way it accounts for costs and sales in its aircraft division and took write-downs on used aircraft and inventory.