Embraer looks for new partnerships after Boeing exit

New partnerships could involve products, engineering and production, the plane maker said

Boeing backed out from a planned deal to buy 80 per cent of Embraer's commercial plane making business. AFP

Brazil's Embraer said on Monday that China and India could be potential new partners in the plane manufacturer's commercial jets division.

Embraer is dealing with the abrupt collapse of a planned deal with Boeing in April that left the company scrambling for a plan B.

Reuters reported last week that the two countries and Russia were interested in becoming partners.

In an earnings call, Embraer chief executive Francisco Gomes Neto said that it was still early to discuss new opportunities in detail as the company is studying a new five-year plan.

He said the partnerships could involve products, engineering and production and revealed that other countries apart from China and India had shown interest.

Before the earnings call, Embraer said it was not in negotiations with China's state-owned COMAC, Russia's Irkut or India on any potential deal to replace the one with Boeing.

The aircraft maker said that it regularly evaluates potential partnerships.

The company reported a $292 million (Dh1.07 billion) first-quarter loss on Monday due to weak demand amid the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of the failed deal with Boeing.

Embraer also said it was seeking new liquidity.

Reuters reported that Brazilian development bank BNDES is helping co-ordinate a $600m loan for the plane maker, which burnt through $677m in cash in the quarter.

The company said its decision to put staff on paid leave in January in order to finalise details of the Boeing deal was largely responsible for a 23 per cent drop in revenue.

In March, Embraer again put workers on leave due to the pandemic.

Executives declined to comment on an arbitration process against Boeing due to its cancellation of the deal.

But Embraer did say that it expects to recover from Boeing tax costs related to the deal that negatively affected its quarterly results.