Spirit AeroSystems recorded a 30% increase in revenue in the third quarter of 2022 as compared to the same time last year. Spirit closed Q3 with a revenue of $1.3 bn and a cash balance of $671 million. Spirit reported that the increase in revenue was primarily due to higher production deliveries on the Boeing 737 program as well as increased aftermarket revenue, partially offset by lower production deliveries on the Boeing 747 program.
Tom Gentile, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Spirit AeroSystems said: “While air traffic is recovering, we continue to see disruptions in our factories due to part shortages, increased levels of employee attrition, and volatile schedules.”
Spirit’s backlog at the end of the third quarter of 2022 was approximately $36 billion, with work packages on all commercial platforms in the Airbus and Boeing backlog.
Spirit recorded an operating income of $4.5 million, compared to an operating loss of $156.6 million in the same period of 2021. Q3 2022 earnings included net forward loss charges of $49.1 million and unfavorable cumulative catch-up adjustments of $4.9 million.
“We continue to leverage our investments in productivity, including digitization and automation, as well as strengthen our workforce to stabilize production at the current rates and position ourselves for future rate increases. Given that our production rate is set at 31 aircraft per month on the 737 programs now, and we will likely remain at that rate for much of 2023, we are initiating a focused effort to reduce structural costs to enhance our profitability and cash flow in 2023,” added Tom.
Excess capacity costs recorded during the third quarter of 2022 were $31.4 million. In comparison, during the third quarter of 2021, Spirit recorded $70.4 million of net forward loss charges, unfavorable cumulative catch-up adjustments of $2.8 million, and excess capacity costs of $57.1 million.
Spirit used cash of about $36 million for operations as compared to $211 million of cash provided by operations in the same quarter last year. The current period cash used in operations included the quarterly cash repayment of $31 million related to the Boeing 737 advance received in 2019.