AAR CORP reported fourth quarter fiscal year 2023 consolidated sales of $553.3 million and income from continuing operations of $23.2 million, or $0.66 per diluted share. For the fourth quarter of the prior year, the Company reported sales of $476.1 million and income from continuing operations of $23.9 million.
AAR reported an increase of 16% in consolidated sales over the same quarter last year with an increase of 31% in consolidated sales to commercial customers due to recovery in the commercial market while the group’s consolidated sales to government customers decreased by 7% due to completion of certain government programs
“Across our domestic and international markets, the demand for commercial air travel is increasing and our airline customers expect this trend to continue. In turn, we have seen sustained high demand for our services which drove another strong quarter of growth,” said John M. Holmes, Chairman, president and chief executive officer, AAR CORP.
The Group reported a gross profit margin of 19.5% in the current quarter, compared to 18.9% in the prior year quarter with the increase from 18.6% to 19.5% in the adjusted gross profit margin.
The Group’s expenses were $70.8 million including increased investments in digital initiatives as well as $5.1 million related to Trax acquisition and amortization expenses. Net interest expense for the quarter was $4.7 million, compared to $0.6 million last year.
“We did not repurchase any shares during the quarter as a result of deploying capital towards the acquisition of Trax and other attractive investment opportunities. We have $57.6 million remaining on the program and will continue to evaluate share repurchases along with other opportunities to deploy our capital,” AAR said in its statement.
The Group reported cash flow of $45.3 million during the current quarter. As of May 31, 2023 the net debt was $203.6 million.
Holmes added: “The sales growth combined with our actions to improve margins drove record earnings in the fourth quarter. We also delivered solid cash flow, and our balance sheet remains exceptionally strong, which will allow us to continue to make growth investments, as we did with the acquisition of Trax.”
The Group reported full fiscal year 2023 consolidated sales of $2.0 billion, an increase of 9% from fiscal year 2022. Aviation Services sales increased by 9%, primarily from the continued recovery in the commercial market, while sales to government customers in this segment decreased 13% primarily due to the completion of certain government programs that occurred last fiscal year.
Full fiscal year 2023 income from continuing operations was $89.8 million while cash flow from operating activities from continuing operations was $23.8 million in fiscal year 2023.