BA Boeing Co

By Doug Cameron and Imani Moise 

Boeing Co. said Friday that it won 668 net new orders last year worth $94.1 billion at list price, missing its goal of having orders match its deliveries and signaling that a seven-year boom in sales is drawing to a close.

The haul still lifted Boeing's backlog of jet deals to 5,715 planes, but the 668 orders fell short of the 748 deliveries the company booked in 2016, as it prepares to boost output of its best-selling 737 single-aisle jets.

Rapid growth in air travel in Asia and the arrival of new more fuel-efficient jets, just as oil prices started to spike, fueled demand from airlines and leasing companies for planes from Boeing and rival Airbus SE.

However, growth has cooled, particularly for larger twin-aisle jets used for international flights, leading both companies to trim production of these models.

Boeing's final order tally, including 180 cancellations over the year, was 848. Many cancellations were customers switching to the new 737 Max model that is due to start operating later this year.

While carriers such as Southwest Airlines Co. and Turkish Airlines have deferred some deliveries, Boeing executives have said such moves remain below their historical average.

The company's share price used to be closely correlated to order activity but this has waned in recent years, supplanted by free cash flow used to fund new jet development and a huge share buyback program.

Boeing spent more than $7 billion on buybacks last year and in December the company raised the authorization for future repurchases to $14 billion.

Airlines pay the bulk of an aircraft's price on delivery, and Boeing shipped 748 planes last year compared with 762 in 2015.

Deliveries of military jets and helicopters slipped to 185 last year from 186 in 2015.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com and Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 06, 2017 12:38 ET (17:38 GMT)

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