Avolon: 2019 Full Year Results

Editor -

Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, announces results for the 2019 full year.

  • Delivered record net profit of US$718 million for the year;
  • Lease revenue increased by 2% year-on-year to over US$2.6 billion;
  • Generated US$2.1 billion of net cash from operating activities;
  • Declared a dividend of US$285 million;
  • At year end, Avolon had US$16.6 billion future contracted rental cashflows; and
  • Ended 2019 with US$5.7 billion of total available liquidity including unrestricted cash, undrawn unsecured RCF and undrawn secured revolving debt.

2019 | OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS

  • Delivered, transitioned or sold a total of 170 aircraft in 2019;
  • Delivered a total of 54 new aircraft and sold a total of 92 aircraft in 2019, 5 of which were managed assets;
  • Fleet utilisation for the year was 98.9%;
  • Continued strong progress on aircraft placement with 91% of orderbook (excluding unplaced MAX aircraft) addressed through to the end of 2021 - with no twin aisle availability until 2022;
  • Owned, managed and committed fleet at year end was 925 aircraft; and
  • Average owned fleet age of 5.0 years with an average remaining lease term of 7.0 years.

2019 | STRATEGIC HIGHLIGHTS

  • Upgraded to Investment Grade by Fitch, Moody’s and S&P Global, ahead of market expectations with an immediate positive impact on Avolon’s funding costs.
  • Avolon’s corporate credit ratings as at 31 December:
  • Fitch BBB- (Stable Outlook)
  • KBRA BBB+ (Stable Outlook)
  • Moody’s Baa3 (Stable Outlook)
  • S&P Global BBB- (Stable Outlook)
  • Increased unencumbered assets from US$8.7 billion to US$14.9 billion during the year, reflecting a year-on-year reduction in Avolon’s secured debt to total assets from 42% to 28%;
  • Successfully raised a total of US$5.1 billion of debt including US$3.6 billion of senior unsecured notes, US$0.5 billion of unsecured term loan debt and US$1.0 billion of revolving credit capacity;
  • Extended the maturity of our unsecured revolving credit facility by 21 months to April 2024 and reduced the facility margin to 1.25%, while increasing the size to US$3.2 billion.
  • Ordered 140 CFM LEAP-1A Engines, to power 70 A320neo family aircraft, valued at US$2 billion at list prices.

Dómhnal Slattery, Avolon CEO, commented: “2019 was another year of strong financial performance for our business, where we achieved a major corporate milestone with our upgrade to investment grade. We built on this achievement by delivering net profit of US$718 million, the highest net income in any year in Avolon’s history.

Looking ahead, the continued spread of the coronavirus creates an uncertain backdrop for our airline customers. However, in previous periods of dislocation air traffic has proven to be resilient. We have multi-cycle experience, a proven management team and a strong investment grade balance sheet. It is in an environment of uncertainty where this experience matters most.”

Avolon will also publish its 2019 Annual Report today at 01.00pm and it can accessed here: https://www.avolon.aero/newsroom-and-thoughts