FLY Leasing Reports Third Quarter 2013 Financial Results

DUBLIN, Nov. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- FLY Leasing Limited (NYSE: FLY) ("FLY"), a global lessor of modern, fuel-efficient commercial jet aircraft, today announced its financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2013.

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Third Quarter 2013 Highlights

• Adjusted Net Income of $2.7 million, $0.07 per share
• Net income of $304,000
• Added four Boeing 737-800 aircraft
• Added a new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft
• Raised $172.6 million of new equity capital
• Declared 24^th consecutive quarterly dividend on October 14^th ($0.22 per share)
• Dividend to be increased to $0.25 per share in 2014

Nine Month Highlights

• Adjusted Net Income of $52.5 million, $1.65 per share
• Net income of $39.1 million, $1.20 per share
• Exceeded fleet growth targets for 2013
• Increased unrestricted cash to over $200 million
• Paid three quarterly dividends totaling $0.66 per share

"During the third quarter we added five aircraft, increasing our portfolio to 107 aircraft at quarter end," said Colm Barrington, CEO of FLY. "So far in the fourth quarter we have added two more aircraft, including a new Boeing 787 on a long-term lease to a top credit airline. This year we have added aircraft worth more than $560 million to our fleet, achieving our growth target for the year and putting us on track to add more than $600 million worth of aircraft by year end. FLY has the capital to maintain this strong growth in 2014 and we continue to see attractive acquisition opportunities."

"All of our aircraft are now on lease or committed to leases," added Barrington. "The global airline industry is strong with air traffic and airline load factors at or near all-time highs. Demand for leased aircraft remains strong and we are seeing improvements in lease rates. As we look ahead to 2014, FLY is well positioned to benefit from its strong financial position, its growing fleet and improving industry conditions. As a result, FLY's board has authorized a 14% increase in the dividend to be declared in respect of the fourth quarter of 2013.  FLY remains committed to returning capital to shareholders."

Third Quarter Financial Results

FLY's net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter of 2013 were $304,000 and $0.00 per share compared to a loss of $29.4 million and a loss of $1.15 per share in the same period of 2012. Operating lease revenue decreased from $84.4 million for the third quarter of 2012 to $78.4 million for the third quarter of 2013, primarily due to a decrease in end of lease income from $5.8 million in 2012 to $0 in 2013.  The loss in the third quarter of 2012 included expenses of $32.3 million associated with termination of interest rate swaps in connection with refinancing FLY's original Acquisition Facility. 

Net income and diluted earnings per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 were $39.1 million and $1.20 per share compared to $16.7 million and $0.63 per share for the nine months ended September 30, 2012.

Adjusted Net Income

Adjusted Net Income was $2.7 million for the third quarter of 2013 compared to $5.4 million in the same period in the previous year.  On a per share basis, Adjusted Net Income was $0.07 in the third quarter of 2013 compared to $0.21 for the same period in the previous year.  For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, Adjusted Net Income was $52.5 million, or $1.65 per share compared to $63.1 million and $2.43 per share for the same period in the previous year.

A reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income to net income determined in accordance with GAAP is shown below.

Dividends  

On October 14, 2013, FLY declared a dividend of $0.22 per share in respect of the third quarter of 2013. This dividend will be paid on November 19, 2013 to shareholders of record on October 30, 2013.  FLY's board has authorized an increase in the dividend to be declared in respect of the fourth quarter of 2013 to $0.25.

Financial Position

At September 30, 2013, FLY's total assets were $3.3 billion, including flight equipment with a net book value of $2.9 billion. Total cash at September 30, 2013 was $362.9 million, of which $207.0 million was unrestricted. This compares to total cash of $300.6 million at December 31, 2012, of which $163.1 million was unrestricted.

In July, FLY completed an underwritten public offering of 13,142,856 common shares in the form of ADSs at a price of $14.00 per ADS, generating net proceeds of approximately $172.6 million.

FLY's net leverage ratio, defined as the ratio of net debt to total shareholders' equity was 2.7x at September 30, 2013 compared to 3.6x at December 31, 2012.  Net debt is defined as book value of secured borrowings, less unrestricted cash and cash equivalents.

Aircraft Portfolio

At September 30, 2013, FLY's 107 aircraft were on lease to 56 airlines in 32 countries. The table below shows the aircraft in FLY's portfolio on September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012.  The table does not include the four B767 aircraft owned by a joint venture in which FLY has a 57% interest.

At September 30, 2013, the average age of FLY's portfolio was 8.8 years weighted by the net book value of each aircraft. The average remaining lease term was 4.0 years, also weighted by net book value. At September 30, 2013, the leases were generating annualized revenues of approximately $345 million. FLY's lease utilization factor was 97% for the third quarter of 2013 and was 95% for the nine months ended September 30, 2013.

Conference Call and Webcast

FLY's senior management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these results at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Thursday, November 7, 2013.  Participants should call +1-706-758-4339 (International) or 877-309-0213 (North America) and enter confirmation code 68512691 or ask an operator for the FLY Leasing earnings call. A replay will be available shortly after the call. To access the replay, please dial +1-404-537-3406 (International) or 855-859-2056 (North America) and enter confirmation code 68512691. The replay recording will be available until November 14, 2013.

A live webcast of the conference call will be also available in the investor section of FLY's website at www.flyleasing.com. An archived webcast will be available for one year.

About FLY

FLY acquires and leases modern, high-demand and fuel-efficient commercial jet aircraft under multi-year operating lease contracts to a diverse group of airlines throughout the world. FLY is managed and serviced by BBAM LP, one of the world's leading aircraft lease managers with more than 20 years of experience. For more information about FLY, please visit our website at www.flyleasing.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain "forward - looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "will," or words of similar meaning and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the outlook for FLY's future business and financial performance. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially due to global political, economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors and risks. FLY expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in its views or expectations, or otherwise.

Contact:
Matt Dallas
FLY Leasing Limited
+1 203-769-5916
[email protected]

FLY defines Adjusted Net Income as net income plus or minus the after-tax impacts of the ineffective portion of cash flow hedges, debt extinguishment costs, non-cash share-based compensation, and adjustments related to the GAAM portfolio acquisition comprised of amortization of fair value adjustments recorded in purchase accounting. FLY believes that Adjusted Net Income provides useful information about operating performance and period over period comparisons.  It also provides additional information that is useful for evaluating the underlying operating performance of our business without regard to the impacts of fair-value adjustments of debt that the company has assumed, acquired leases and derivative instruments and other non-recurring items of income and expense affecting current period results.  Adjusted Net Income should be used as a supplement to and not as a substitute for financial measures determined in accordance with Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States. 

Adjusted Net Income Plus Depreciation and Amortization is a cash flow measure that provides investors with an additional measure for evaluating FLY's ongoing cash earnings, from which capital investments are made, debt is serviced and dividends are paid.  However, adjusted net income plus depreciation and amortization excludes certain positive and negative cash items, including principal payments, and has certain important limitations as an indicator of FLY's ability to pay dividends and reinvest in its business.  Management uses Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Net Income Plus Depreciation and Amortization as a measure for assessing FLY's performance.  These measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for net income or other financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP.  Finally, FLY's definitions may be different than those used by other companies.

SOURCE FLY Leasing Limited