- Continued strong first half performance driven by increase in lease revenue and trading-

Dublin, 21 November 2019: SMBC Aviation Capital, one of the world’s leading aircraft leasing companies, today announces its results for the half year ended 30 September 2019.

Key Highlights:

• Strong financial performance during the half year:
• Profit before Tax of $200m, increase of 19% on H1 FY18 ($168m)
• $597.4m Lease Revenue and Other Operating Income up 13% (H1 FY18: $530m)
• Operating margin of 41%
• Raised $620m of third party funding leveraging our industry leading ratings
• Continued progress in transitioning to new technology aircraft
• Aircraft assets value in excess of $12.4 billion up 10% from Sep 2018 ($11.2 billion), comprising 237 owned aircraft and pre-delivery payments
• 42.2% of portfolio transitioned to new technology assets (Sep 2018: 30.6%) with upward trend set to continue
• Delivery of 17 aircraft, comprising 2 A320s, 1 A321, 13 A320 NEOs and 1 B787
• Robust demand from airline customers and investors
• Signed LOIs to place 21 aircraft from our order book
• Sale of 16 owned aircraft, with an average age of 7.3 years
• Ongoing cooperation with our shareholders continues to reap benefits in selling aircraft into the Japanese market, the largest standalone aircraft investment market globally – 9 aircraft sold to Japanese investors.
• Signed contracts or Letters of Intent to sell a further 15 aircraft with an average age of 10.7 years
• Average age of fleet now 4.2 years
• Global asset spread 43.6% Asia, 28.2% EMEA, 28.2% The Americas
• A-/A- ratings from S&P and Fitch
• $10.6 billion of financial backing from shareholders
• $5.3 billion of available liquidity

Commenting on the performance, Peter Barrett, CEO of SMBC Aviation Capital, said: “Successful implementation of our strategy and relentless focus on building long-term customer relationships has resulted in growth of our leasing business and continued interest from trade investors in acquiring our assets. This has allowed us to deliver a strong financial performance in the first half of the year, demonstrating our ability to deliver profitable growth.

Our differentiation continues to be the strength of our portfolio alongside the support and collaboration with our shareholder which enables us to provide a diverse product offering to a growing number of customers in the aviation industry.

The global aviation industry is continuing to face some challenges. Our young, fuel-efficient fleet and close collaboration with the aircraft manufacturers, combined with a strong track record over 18 years of delivering a disciplined strategy, means we are confident that we can continue to deliver further growth now and into the future and respond flexibly to changing market dynamics.”