Impressive results for Air Lease Corporation

Air Lease Corporation announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, earlier this week, showing incredibly positive results.  One of the world's major aircraft leasing specialist saw revenues increase during the last three months by over 19%. The fleet grew by 14.1% to a net book value of $15.1 billion as of September 30th and amounted to 268 owned aircraft.

Impressive results for Air Lease Corporation 

Highlights

• Revenues:
  • $451 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018, an increase of 19.6%
  • $1.2 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2018, an increase of 10.0%

• Took delivery of seven aircraft from our order book representing $682 million in capital expenditures, ending the quarter with $15.1 billion in aircraft with a weighted average age of 3.8 years and a weighted average lease term remaining of 6.8 years.
• Sold 10 aircraft to Thunderbolt II Aircraft Lease Limited during the quarter for sales proceeds of $244 million.
• Ended the quarter with our aircraft order book 96% placed through 2019 and 82% placed through 2020 on long-term leases.
• Ended the quarter with $24.1 billion in committed minimum future rental payments consisting of $11.4 billion in contracted minimum rental payments on the aircraft in our existing fleet and $12.7 billion in minimum future rental payments related to aircraft on order.
• Raised $1.6 billion in debt financing during the quarter, including issuances of unsecured senior notes of $700 million at 3.500% due 2022 and $500 million at 4.625% due 2028.
• Increased our quarterly cash dividend by 30%, from $0.10 per share to $0.13 per share. The next quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share will be paid on January 9, 2019 to holders of record of our Class A common stock as of December 13, 2018.

“We had an excellent quarter achieving record revenues while delivering consistent, strong pre-tax margins and returns on equity. Aircraft sales into the Thunderbolt II platform progressed well, as did our forward lease placements for the quarter. Aircraft leasing and sales demand remain solid. Interest rate adjusters have been applied at our new aircraft deliveries throughout 2018 as they were intended and contracted in our leases. We are well prepared for the CapEx growth we envision through 2019,” said John L. Plueger, Chief Executive Officer and President.

“In just nine years, Air Lease has grown into an industry leading lessor with more than $17.5 billion in assets across 94 airline customers worldwide. We are pleased with ALC’s strong financial performance, and believe our business model and our people continue to differentiate our platform enabling us to produce extraordinary results. In recognition of ALC’s success, we are pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has authorized a 30% increase in ALC’s quarterly dividend to $0.13 per share from $0.10 per share,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Executive Chairman of the Board.