Profit at Bombardier fell 31 percent in the latest quarter as the number of corporate jet cancellations rose due to the recession, but weakness in the aerospace market may have bottomed out, the company said on Wednesday.

The world's No. 1 passenger train maker and No. 3 civil aircraft manufacturer said it had 61 business aircraft cancellations during its first quarter. That was offset by 20 new business aircraft orders, and 50 new commercial aircraft orders, for a net of nine aerospace orders.

A year earlier, the company reported 118 aerospace orders.

"The first-quarter results for fiscal 2010 followed the trend that emerged in the preceding quarter and therefore we continue to see an abnormal number of deferrals and cancellations," Guy Hachey, president and chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace, said at the company's annual shareholders meeting.

Hachey said the company had 25 jets without buyers, known as "whitetails", due to cancellations. He said Bombardier was in active discussions with several potential buyers for some of the planes.

"In the last six to seven weeks, we've seen a bit more interest in the market, not that it's been buoyant, but certainly, compared to what we were seeing in January, February and March, April and May were much more active months."

Bombardier maintained its view that corporate jet deliveries would be 25 percent lower for the year, while it expects commercial aircraft deliveries to rise by 10 percent.

In early April, the company said it would cut 3,000 jobs, on top of nearly 1,400 layoffs announced earlier in the year.

Chief Executive Pierre Beaudoin said that he thought the layoffs and production cuts were enough to adjust the company to meet the weaker demand.

While he would not definitively say the aerospace market had reached bottom, he said there were signs it may have.

"There is some indication, anecdotal, as well as within the statistics, that things may have bottomed out."

PROFIT TUMBLES

Net income at Bombardier fell to USD$158 million in the quarter ended April 30. That compares with earnings of USD$229 million a year earlier.

Revenue fell 6.7 percent to USD$4.47 billion.

The company's overall order backlog was USD$47.4 billion, compared to USD$55.5 billion a year ago.

Montreal-based Bombardier said first-quarter aircraft deliveries were 75 units, compared with 87 for the same period a year ago. It delivered 43 business aircraft, compared with 58 a year earlier, along with 31 regional jets, up from 28, and one amphibious aircraft.