Canadian flight training provider CAE has reported a jump in revenues as the aviation sector begins to recover from Covid.

CAE reported fourth quarter fiscal 2022 revenue of CA$955.0 million, compared with CA$894.3 million last year.

Revenue was 25 per cent higher this quarter, excluding CA$130.0 million of revenue in the fourth quarter last year from a contract to provide the Canadian government with ventilators as part of CAE’s Covid-19 humanitarian initiatives.

Annual fiscal 2022 revenue was CA$3.4 billion, compared to CA$3.0 billion last year. Revenue was 23 per cent higher this year, excluding CA$230.6 million of revenue last year from the ventilator contract.

‘Strong performance’

“I am very pleased with our strong performance in the fourth quarter and for the year, having delivered double-digit growth with higher margins, excellent free cash flow, and record order bookings,” said Marc Parent, CAE’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

“We drove 23 percent annual revenue growth, before the contribution of our ventilator humanitarian initiative last year, 58 per cent higher adjusted segment operating income and 79 percent higher earnings per share.

“Testament to the quality of these results, we generated CA$342 million of free cash flow for a 131 per cent cash conversion. We also continued to secure the future with some CA$4.1 billion in orders for a book-to-sales ratio of 1.21 times and a record CA$9.6 billion backlog.

‘Early days of cyclical recovery’

“These numbers are especially impressive considering that our industry is still in the early days of a cyclical recovery. In civil, we booked CA$2.0 billion in orders for a 1.25 times book-to-sales ratio, including long-term training agreements with airlines and business aircraft operators, and 48 full-flight simulator sales, demonstrating the strength of demand for pilot training.

“In defence, we had continued momentum with a record CA$1.9 billion of orders for training and mission support solutions, representing 1.20 times book-to-sales, and we also concluded the year with a record CA$8.6 billion of defence bids and proposals outstanding.”

‘Playing offence in disrupted market’

On CAE’s outlook, Parent added: “We are adeptly playing offence in a disrupted market, by seizing on highly strategic growth opportunities to expand our capabilities and reach. In parallel, we are significantly lowering our cost base and continuing to innovate ways to revolutionise our customers’ training and critical operations with digitally immersive solutions to elevate safety, efficiency, and readiness.

“Our recent results and the expanded set of opportunities before us, add to my conviction that we are on a clear path to a bigger, stronger, and more profitable CAE in the future.”
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