SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA said on Monday it delivered 32 jets in the second quarter of 2022, including 11 commercial aircraft and 21 executive jets; a sign it was gaining pace after a lukewarm first quarter.
The company added in a securities filing that its firm order backlog hit $17.8 billion at the end of June, up 12% from the same period a year ago and the highest level since 2018.
The current backlog did not include a new order of 20 E195-E2 aircraft placed by Porter Airlines at the Farnborough Airshow last week, which was valued at $1.56 billion and will be added to third-quarter figures, Embraer said.
The latest filing, however, did include the order of eight new E175 jets placed by Alaska Air Group also announced last week.
Monday’s figures showed deliveries accelerating from the first quarter, which delivered 14 jets in total, but fell just shy of the 34 jets delivered in the same period last year.
The results were roughly in line with analysts’ expectations at Itau BBA, who said last week they anticipated a single-digit decline in deliveries year-on-year to 30 aircrafts.
XP Investimentos predicted 29 aircrafts to be delivered in the second quarter, expecting business to ramp up later in the year.
“We expect aircraft deliveries to be more concentrated in the second half of 2022,” XP said.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Toby Chopra and Louise Heavens)