22 February, 2019

$1.7 billion revenue for Air Lease Corp in 2018

One of the major leasing firms, Air Lease Corporation announced its financial results for the year and three months ended December 31, 2018, earlier this week.

The figures released show the firm achieved revenues of $450 million for the three months ended December 31st, 2018, that's an increase of 12.9%.  For the whole year, the revenue was $1.7 billion, an increase of 10.8%.
Cayman Airways 737 Max leased with ALC                     Photo ALC

“We had a solid fourth quarter, concluding another successful year for ALC generating pre-tax return on equity of 14.3% and $1.25 billion of operating cash flow for the full year 2018. We are now in our tenth year of operation and expect to reach $20 billion in assets in 2019 with a strong balance sheet. We have good momentum on lease placements and a strong outlook on aircraft sales and financing, already issuing $700 million of senior unsecured notes in January. We remain confident and optimistic looking forward,” said John L. Plueger, Chief Executive Officer and President.

Highlights included :




Took delivery of 12 aircraft from our order book during the quarter, representing $881 million in aircraft investments, ending the quarter with an operating portfolio net book value of $15.7 billion with a weighted average age of 3.8 years and a weighted average lease term remaining of 6.8 years.

Sold five aircraft during the quarter for sales proceeds of $164 million. 

Placed 91% of our order book on long-term leases for aircraft delivering through 2020 and 72% through 2021.

Ended the year with $25.7 billion in committed minimum future rental payments consisting of $11.8 billion in contracted minimum rental payments on the aircraft in our existing fleet and $13.9 billion in minimum future rental payments related to aircraft on order.

Issued a total of $3.03 billion of senior unsecured notes in 2018 and ended the year with liquidity of $4.3 billion.

In January 2019, the Company issued $700.0 million in aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured medium-term notes due 2024 that bear interest at a rate of 4.250%.

Declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.13 per share on our outstanding common stock for the fourth quarter of 2018. The dividend will be paid on April 10, 2019 to holders of record of our common stock as of March 20, 2019.


“We had a solid fourth quarter, concluding another successful year for ALC generating pre-tax return on equity of 14.3% and $1.25 billion of operating cash flow for the full year 2018. We are now in our tenth year of operation and expect to reach $20 billion in assets in 2019 with a strong balance sheet. We have good momentum on lease placements and a strong outlook on aircraft sales and financing, already issuing $700 million of senior unsecured notes in January. We remain confident and optimistic looking forward,” said John L. Plueger, Chief Executive Officer and President.

“Air Lease once again continued its steady growth in 2018 with 336 owned and managed aircraft as of year-end, a 14% increase over 2017. Our order book now stands at 91% placed through 2020, and we continue to see strong demand for our modern, fuel-efficient aircraft driven by replacement needs and passenger traffic trends. We are pleased with our financial results, which are the outcome of our team’s dedication to serving our airline customers and adherence to our core operating principles,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Executive Chairman of the Board.

Revenues increased $52 million or 12.9% to $450 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the three months ended December 31, 2017. This increase was principally driven by the continued growth of our fleet, partially offset by a decrease in our sales and trading activity.

Income before taxes increased $6 million or 3.8% to $172 million for the three months ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the three months ended December 31, 2017. This increase was principally driven by the continued growth of our fleet, partially offset by a decrease in our aircraft sales and trading activity.

Net income decreased $333 million or 70.6% to $138 million representing $1.24 per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the three months ended December 31, 2017. The decrease primarily resulted from the enactment of the Tax Reform Act, which was effective beginning January 1, 2018, which resulted in a tax benefit of $354.1 million, or $3.16 per diluted share during the three months ended December 31, 2017. This decrease was partially offset by the growth in revenues highlighted above.

Flight Equipment Portfolio

Our fleet grew by 18.3% based on net book value of $15.7 billion as of December 31, 2018 compared to $13.3 billion as of December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2018, our fleet was comprised of 275 aircraft, with a weighted-average age and remaining lease term of 3.8 years and 6.8 years, respectively, and 61 managed aircraft. We have a globally diversified customer base of 94 airlines in 56 countries.

During the quarter ended December 31, 2018, we took delivery of 12 new aircraft and sold five aircraft ending the quarter with 275 owned aircraft in our operating lease portfolio.

The following table details the composition of fleet by aircraft type:
         December 31, 2018   December 31, 2017
Aircraft typeNumber of 
Aircraft(1)
   % of TotalNumber of 
Aircraft(1)
   % of Total
Airbus A319-10010.4%10.4%
Airbus A320-2003512.7%4016.4%
Airbus A320-200neo62.2%52.1%
Airbus A321-2003412.4%2911.9%
Airbus A321-200neo145.1%52.1%
Airbus A330-200155.4%156.1%
Airbus A330-30051.8%52.1%
Airbus A330-900neo10.4%%
Airbus A350-90062.2%20.8%
Boeing 737-70041.4%31.2%
Boeing 737-8009835.6%10241.8%
Boeing 737-8 MAX145.1%20.8%
Boeing 767-300ER10.4%10.4%
Boeing 777-200ER10.4%10.4%
Boeing 777-300ER248.7%249.8%
Boeing 787-9155.4%83.3%
Embraer E19010.4%10.4%
Total275100.0%244100.0%
      (1)  As of December 31, 2018, we had six aircraft held for sale. We did not have any aircraft held for sale as of December 31, 2017.

Search