Air Lease Corporation revenues increased 45% to $192 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013 compared to $133 million in the year-ago period. •
Income before taxes increased 48% to $62 million with a pretax margin of 32% for the three months ended March 31, 2013 compared to income before taxes of $42 million with a pretax margin of 31% in the 2012 period.
During the reporting period, ALC acquired seven aircraft (including five aircraft from its order book and two incremental aircraft), growing its fleet to 162 aircraft spread across 71 airlines in 41 countries.
Asia/Pacific carriers now represent the largest regional concentration of our fleet at 39.2% based on net book value as of March 31, 2013
On May 7, 2013, ALC amended its Syndicated Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility increasing the aggregate principal amount by $607 million to $1.7 billion, reducing the interest rate to LIBOR plus a margin of 1.45% from LIBOR plus 1.75% and extending the term from three to four years. The participating bank group increased to 40 financial institutions.
Also during the reporting period, ALC issued its first Eximbond for $77 million at a fixed rate of 1.6% for 12 years and also issued a $400 million senior unsecured notes offering due in 2020 at a rate of 4.75%.
“During the first quarter we continued to execute our strategic plan for future growth, increasing our fully diluted EPS by 46% compared to Q1 of 2012. Although macro-economic indicators remain mixed, we continue to see strong global growth of passenger traffic led by the emerging markets, which drives demand for new aircraft. We see that strength continuing for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, we increased our order positions to meet that demand. Financing markets remain open and investors and institutions have been very receptive to ALC’s strong credit metrics. Our recent corporate credit rating of A- from Kroll further broadens our access to attractively priced capital,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Lease Corporation.
“The results of our first quarter reflect ALC’s strong core leasing business that continues to yield attractive lease and operating margins. Asia/Pacific has now surpassed Europe as ALC’s largest region as measured by percentage of net book value of our fleet. We see this trend continuing. We see further pockets of opportunity emerging with quality airlines in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Our overall lease placements are tracking as expected, including placement of our recently announced orders, and we have no significant customer credit concerns,” said John L. Plueger, President and Chief Operating