Air Lease Corporation (ALC) has a 13% increase in revenues to $278 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $246 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. Adjusted diluted EPS increased to $0.61 for the three months ended March 31, 2015 as compared to $0.57 in the year-ago period. ALC’s adjusted income before taxes increased to $102 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015 compared to $95 million in Q1 2014.
On April 22, 2015, ALC settled the litigation with American International Group and International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) resulting in a non-recurring settlement expense of $72 million before taxes. ALC’s GAAP diluted EPS was negatively impacted by $0.42 per share as a result of the settlement.
The lessor increased its owned fleet by 10 aircraft to 223 aircraft and its managed fleet by two aircraft to 19 aircraft as of March 31, 2015.
During the quarter, ALC entered into definitive agreements with Airbus to purchase 57 additional aircraft increasing its order book to 411 aircraft as of March 31, 2015.
ALC completed a senior unsecured notes offering of $600 million due 2022 at 3.75% in January 2015. The transactions increased the company’s liquidity, the duration of our debt portfolio and fixed-rate debt to 80% as of March 31, 2015.
ALC’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.04 per share on our outstanding common stock. The dividend will be paid on July 6, 2015 to holders of record of ALC common stock as of June 15, 2015.
“ALC delivered consistent fleet and revenue growth in the first quarter of 2015. Global passenger traffic grew at a robust 6.1% for the first three months of the year. Capacity has moved in line with passenger growth, suggesting that the system is well balanced. Demand remains solid for modern technology aircraft, as well as for used aircraft from buyers in the secondary market. We are pleased to have the ongoing litigation behind us,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Lease Corporation.
“Our airline customers are performing well overall and have been aided significantly by the decline in oil prices, which have more than offset currency fluctuations. To date, our overall portfolio lease rate factor remains stable and consistent. Our forward lease placements are generally trending farther out into the future reflecting less near term availability of next generation aircraft,” said John L. Plueger, President and Chief Operating Officer of Air Lease Corporation.
ALC ended the first quarter of 2015 with total debt, net of discounts and issuance costs, of $7.0 billion as compared to $6.6 billion as of December 31, 2014. The company's unsecured debt increased to $6.0 billion as of March 31, 2015 from $5.5 billion as of December 31, 2014. The Company's unsecured debt as a percentage of total debt increased to 85.0% as of March 31, 2015 from 82.4% as of December 31, 2014. The Company’s fixed-rate debt as a percentage of total debt increased to 80.0% as of March 31, 2015 from 75.3% as of December 31, 2014.
ALC ended the first quarter of 2015 with a debt to equity ratio of 2.50:1 and available liquidity of $2.5 billion.