By Gabriel Araujo
SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA (NYSE:ERJ) said on Monday it delivered 32 jets in the second quarter, including 11 commercial aircraft and 21 executive jets, a sign it was gaining pace after a lukewarm first quarter.
The company added in a securities filing that its firm order backlog hit $17.8 billion at the end of June, up 12% from the same period a year ago and the highest level since 2018.
Shares in Embraer were trading near flat at 11.88 reais in early afternoon in Sao Paulo, while Brazil's stock index Bovespa rose 1.3%.
Analysts at Itau BBA said the results came in roughly in line with their expectations but left the company closer to the bottom of its guidance for 2022, which comprises 100 to 110 executive jets and 60 to 70 commercial jets.
Embraer's latest delivery figures showed "overall weak numbers, which we believe overshadows the news of the robust backlog," they said in a research note.
The current backlog did not include a new Porter Airlines order of 20 E195-E2 aircraft from the Farnborough Airshow last week, valued at $1.56 billion, Embraer said.
It did include an Alaska Air (NYSE:ALK) Group order of eight new E175 jets last week.
Monday's figures showed deliveries accelerating from the first quarter but fell just shy of the 34 jets delivered in the same period last year.
Chief Financial Officer Antonio Carlos Garcia said in May the company had already won enough orders to meet the top end of its targeted revenue range for this year, but supply chain constraints remained an issue.
XP (NASDAQ:XP) Investimentos analysts, who had forecast a total 29 aircraft to be delivered in the second quarter, expect business to ramp up later in the year.
"Deliveries should be more concentrated in the second half of 2022," they said.