NAV Canada's first-quarter revenues fell 1.3 per cent from a year earlier, a decline that the civil air navigation services provider blamed on lower air traffic as well as its exposure to asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), the short-term investment vehicle that factored prominently in the financial crisis.

The corporation said revenues before rate stabilization declined to $296 million from $300 million, largely because of a 2.2-per-cent year-over-year decrease in air traffic volumes.

However, NAV Canada also noted that it had to reduce the fair value of its investments in ABCP by $42 million, in addition to the $122 million of similar adjustments recorded in prior periods.

Nonetheless, NAV Canada CEO John Crichton in a statement moved to reassure stakeholders about the impact of ABCP on the company's books: "Most of the reduction in the fair value of our ABCP investments should be recoverable over time, under the restructuring plan that is now in its final phase ... Along with other participants in the process, we look forward to replacing our ABCP holdings with longer-term securities as we proceed to conclusion of the restructuring this month."

The company said expenses were $41 million higher than revenues, leading the corporation to dip into its rate stabilization account in order to help achieve its goal of breaking even over the fiscal year. The rate stabilization liability account has now decreased to a rate stabilization asset of $37 million.