Colm Barrington, CEO of FLY (pictured) said: “FLY has acquired 22 newer aircraft this year, while divesting of older models, which is transforming our fleet and driving strong growth in our lease revenues.
“For two consecutive years, FLY has grown its fleet by 15% or more, while at the same time returning capital to shareholders with its attractive quarterly dividend. With a strong balance sheet and a nimble strategy that allows us to act quickly to take advantage of opportunities in the market, FLY is in an excellent position to continue delivering both strong growth and income to its shareholders during 2015.”
Earlier FLY revealed its Q3 2014 highlights:
• net income of $15.4 million, $0.37 per share;
• total revenues of $105.5 million, an increase of 33%;
• acquired five aircraft for more than $350 million, achieving year-to-date growth of 15%;
• acquisition pipeline of $374 million; and
• declared 28th consecutive quarterly dividend on October 9th ($0.25 per share).
Barrington added: “FLY had another strong quarter, with fleet utilization of 100% and revenue growth of more than 30%.
“We have grown our fleet to 127 aircraft with the acquisition of five aircraft in the third quarter, maintaining our average fleet age at just over eight years and increasing our average lease term to approximately five years.
“FLY is continuing its growth trajectory and is on track to beat our 2014 fleet growth target of 15%, and are targeting a further 15% fleet growth in 2015. Our recent issuance of $400 million of unsecured notes, along with $327 million of remaining capacity in our acquisition facility, provides us with ample resources to fund this program.”
He said: “The demand for aircraft from our customers remains strong as worldwide air traffic continues to increase. IATA is reporting a 5.8% growth in world passenger numbers in the eight months through to August. Most airlines continue to report strong profits, with IATA now forecasting global airline profits of $18 billion in 2014 as compared to $10.6 billion last year.”
