Story ID: 
Embraer Deliveries Remain Flat In 2014
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: Large business jet deliveries were down, but Phenom and commercial aircraft shipments improved.
Word Count: 380
A strong push in the fourth quarter helped Embraer meet most of its 2014 delivery guidance, but the shipment total overall was down by one aircraft for the year. Embraer delivered 208 aircraft last year, compared with 209 in 2013. Deliveries slipped a bit at the company's executive aircraft division, but were up slightly in the commercial segment.

Embraer handed over 116 business jets in 2014, compared with 119 a year earlier. These included 92 light jets, ahead of Embraer’s delivery guidance of 80 to 90 Phenoms. The 24 large business jet shipments, however, just missed the original guidance for 25 to 30. 

Phenom deliveries reached the highest level since 2010. The Phenom 300 was the most delivered business jet in 2013 and Embraer believes it will retain that title in 2014 with 73 shipped. 

While Phenom deliveries were up over 2013 by two aircraft, large aircraft deliveries were down by five last year. Although most of the large business jet shipments came from the Legacy 600/650, the total reflected three Legacy 500 deliveries, all of which came in the fourth quarter.

Typical for Embraer, the fourth quarter accounted for the largest number of deliveries in the year. The company shipped 52 business jets in the fourth quarter, or 45 percent of the year’s total. These included 38 Phenoms and 14 large jets, down by one large jet from fourth quarter 2013. But the quarterly total was stronger than Wall Street estimates; J.P.Morgan anticipated 46 business jet deliveries in the quarter.

At 92, commercial deliveries last year met the bottom end of the guidance for 92 to 97, but this was still two better than in 2013 and two better than J.P.Morgan predicted.  The mix of deliveries, however, leaned more heavily toward the E175, which accounted for 62 of the year’s total. In 2013 the E190 was the leader in commercial deliveries at 45.

In the fourth quarter, Embraer delivered two fewer E-Jets. Of the 30 delivered in the most recent quarter, 22 were E175s. 

Backlog, which had reached a record $22.1 billion at the end of the third quarter, ended the year down at $20.9 billion. However, this is still up from the $18.2 billion at the end of 2013. The company’s order book was helped by agreements from NetJets to convert 10 Phenom 300 options into firm orders and from Skywest for seven E175s.