Air Lease Corporation Announces Third Quarter 2023 Results

Air Lease Corporation (ALC) (NYSE:AL) announces financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023.

"ALC's healthy third quarter performance reflects continued strength in the underlying fundamentals of our business. Aircraft demand remains very strong, while supply chain and other OEM challenges will continue to constrain the supply of commercial aircraft. We are also pleased by the attractive valuations that we are seeing in the aircraft sales market and are optimistic about the prospects for our own sizable aircraft sales pipeline," said John L. Plueger, Chief Executive Officer and President, and Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Executive Chairman of the Board.

Third Quarter 2023 Results

The following table summarizes our operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022 (in millions, except per share amounts and percentages):

Operating Results

Key Financial Ratios

Highlights

• Took delivery of eight aircraft from our orderbook during the quarter, representing approximately $450 million in aircraft investments, ending the period with approximately $30 billion in total assets.
• Sold eight aircraft during the quarter for approximately $350 million in sales proceeds.
• As of November 6, 2023, we had 40 aircraft with a carrying value of approximately $1.8 billion in our sales pipeline, which includes the 13 aircraft with a carrying value of approximately $670 million classified as flight equipment held for sale as of September 30, 2023 and 27 aircraft with a carrying value of $1.1 billion subject to letters of intent.
• Placed 100% of our contracted orderbook positions on long-term leases for aircraft delivering through the end of 2025 and have placed 67% of our entire orderbook.
• Ended the quarter with $31.2 billion in committed minimum future rental payments consisting of $16.1 billion in contracted minimum rental payments on the aircraft in our existing fleet and $15.1 billion in minimum future rental payments related to aircraft on order.
• On November 3, 2023, our board of directors increased our quarterly cash dividend by 5%, from $0.20 per share to $0.21 per share on our outstanding Class A common stock. The next quarterly dividend of $0.21 per share will be paid on January 10, 2024 to holders of record of our common stock as of December 15, 2023.

Financial Overview

Our total revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2023 increased by 17% to $659.4 million as compared to the three months ended September 30, 2022. The increase in total revenues was primarily driven by the continued growth in our fleet and an increase in sales activity. The increase in aircraft sales, trading and other revenue was primarily related to the sale of eight aircraft and one sales-type lease transaction which generated approximately $43.9 million in gains. During the three months ended September 30, 2022, we recorded approximately $11.6 million in gains from four sales-type lease transactions and the sale of one aircraft.

Our net income attributable to common stockholders for the three months ended September 30, 2023 was $122.0 million, or $1.10 per diluted share, compared to net income attributable to common stockholders of $100.0 million, or $0.90 per diluted share, for the three months ended September 30, 2022. Our adjusted net income before income taxes during the three months ended September 30, 2023 was $177.0 million or $1.59 per adjusted diluted share, as compared to $146.3 million, or $1.32 per adjusted diluted share, for the three months ended September 30, 2022. Net income attributable to common stockholders and adjusted net income before income taxes increased from the prior year period due to the growth of our fleet and increase in sales activity, partially offset by an increase in interest expense as a result of the increase in our composite cost of funds due to the rise in prevailing interest rates.

Flight Equipment Portfolio

As of September 30, 2023, the net book value of our fleet increased to $25.6 billion, compared to $24.5 billion as of December 31, 2022. As of September 30, 2023, we owned 448 aircraft in our aircraft portfolio, comprised of 331 narrowbody aircraft and 117 widebody aircraft, and we managed 79 aircraft. The weighted average fleet age and weighted average remaining lease term of flight equipment subject to operating lease as of September 30, 2023 was 4.6 years and 7.0 years, respectively. We have a globally diversified customer base of 117 airlines in 63 countries as of September 30, 2023.

The following table summarizes the key portfolio metrics of our fleet as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022:

Debt Financing Activities

We ended the third quarter of 2023 with total debt financing, net of discounts and issuance costs, of $18.6 billion. As of September 30, 2023, 85.1% of our total debt financing was at a fixed rate and 98.3% was unsecured. As of September 30, 2023, our composite cost of funds was 3.67%. We ended the third quarter with total liquidity of $6.6 billion.

As of the end of the periods presented, our debt portfolio was comprised of the following components (dollars in millions):

Conference Call

In connection with this earnings release, Air Lease Corporation will host a conference call on November 6, 2023 at 8:00 AM Eastern Time to discuss the Company's financial results for the third quarter of 2023.

Investors can participate in the conference call by dialing 1 (888) 660-6652 domestic or 1 (646) 960-0554 international. The passcode for the call is 5952437.

The conference call will also be broadcast live through a link on the Investors page of the Air Lease Corporation website at www.airleasecorp.com. Please visit the website at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the broadcast will be available on the Investors page of the Air Lease Corporation website.

For your convenience, the conference call can be replayed in its entirety beginning on November 6, 2023 until 11:59 PM ET on November 13, 2023. If you wish to listen to the replay of this conference call, please dial 1 (800) 770-2030 domestic or 1 (647) 362-9199 international and enter passcode 5952437.

About Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL)

Air Lease Corporation is a leading global aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California that has airline customers throughout the world. Air Lease Corporation and its team of dedicated and experienced professionals are principally engaged in purchasing new commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline customers worldwide through customized aircraft leasing and financing solutions. Air Lease Corporation routinely posts information that may be important to investors in the "Investors" section of its website at www.airleasecorp.com. Investors and potential investors are encouraged to consult Air Lease Corporation's website regularly for important information. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, Air Lease Corporation's website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Those statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include statements regarding, among other matters, the state of the airline industry, our access to the capital and debt markets, the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the impact of sanctions imposed on Russia, the impact of the Israel Hamas conflict, aircraft and engine delivery delays and manufacturing defects, our aircraft sales pipeline and expectations, the impact of inflation, rising interest rates and other macroeconomic conditions and other factors affecting our financial condition or results of operations. Words such as "can," "could," "may," "predicts," "potential," "will," "projects," "continuing," "ongoing," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and "should," and variations of these words and similar expressions, are used in many cases to identify these forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results to vary materially from our future results, performance or achievements, or those of our industry, expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others:

• our inability to obtain additional capital on favorable terms, or at all, to acquire aircraft, service our debt obligations and refinance maturing debt obligations;
• increases in our cost of borrowing or changes in interest rates;
• our inability to generate sufficient returns on our aircraft investments through strategic acquisition and profitable leasing;
• the failure of an aircraft or engine manufacturer to meet its contractual obligations to us, including or as a result of manufacturing defects and technical or other difficulties with aircraft or engines before or after delivery;
• our ability to recover losses related to aircraft detained in Russia, including through insurance claims and related litigation;
• obsolescence of, or changes in overall demand for, our aircraft;
• changes in the value of, and lease rates for, our aircraft, including as a result of aircraft oversupply, manufacturer production levels, our lessees' failure to maintain our aircraft, rising inflation, appreciation of the U.S. Dollar, and other factors outside of our control;
• impaired financial condition and liquidity of our lessees, including due to lessee defaults and reorganizations, bankruptcies or similar proceedings;
• increased competition from other aircraft lessors;
• the failure by our lessees to adequately insure our aircraft or fulfill their contractual indemnity obligations to us, or the failure of such insurers to fulfill their contractual obligations;
• increased tariffs and other restrictions on trade;
• changes in the regulatory environment, including changes in tax laws and environmental regulations;
• other events affecting our business or the business of our lessees and aircraft manufacturers or their suppliers that are beyond our or their control, such as the threat or realization of epidemic diseases, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, war or armed hostilities between countries or non-state actors; and
• any additional factors discussed under "Part I — Item 1A. Risk Factors," in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and other SEC filings, including future SEC filings.

All forward-looking statements are necessarily only estimates of future results, and there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from expectations. You are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not intend and undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking information to reflect actual results or events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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