Any time a company receives more than $2 billion in government subsidies, in some cases just to keep the lights on (take a look at the company's $0.80 share price in early 2016 before one of its large government bailouts), investors tend to spend a significant amount of time watching how well said company represents itself as a steward of taxpayer funds.
After all, for a highly cyclical business operating in a competitive global space, a business with a track record of relying on government subsidies to survive, any shift away from the good graces of the government could be a death sentence for such a company.
Assuming Bombardier, Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) will be able to continue as a going concern on its own, without government support, may indeed be the dream of the company's management team. In that case, this discussion would be a moot point.
However, as we have seen time and again, Bombardier appears to be not only in the "plane and train" business, but also in the government subsidy business (as are a number of other large "too big to fail" Canadian companies in other industries), and this reliance on government money to keep a few thousand jobs in Canada has begun to weigh on both the patience of the Canadian Federal and Provincial governments as well as taxpayers.
Sure, Bombardier supports thousands of decent-paying Canadian jobs directly and indirectly. That said, with the recent alleged aggravated bribery scandal being played out in European court, the company's culture is what is really on trial here, resulting in a high-stakes situation in which Bombardier must do everything it can to win this case, lest the Canadian government turn its back on the aerospace industry and focus taxpayer dollars elsewhere.
Invest wisely, my friends.
