The China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (CALC) reported a strong revenue, closing the year 2022 with HK$4,171 million reporting 27.2% increase over 2021. CALC wrote off in full of two aircraft that remain in Russia due to the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Excluding the write-off, adjusted profit attributable to shareholders reached HK$513 million.
In 2022 the Group’s total new financing facilities obtained and renewed exceeded HK$ 21 billion, including aircraft project loans, PDP financing, working capital facilities, RMB bonds, etc., providing strong support for the Group’s business development. As at 31 December 2022, the Group had cash and bank balances amounting to HK$4.668 billion and undrawn borrowing facilities amounting to HK$6.701 billion.
Mike Poon, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of CALC, said: “The aviation industry is poised for a full recovery and strong growth in 2023, with global borders reopening and in particular, the strong rebound in China's civil aviation market is expected to lead a sharp rise in global passenger traffic. We also expect that airline will rely more on lessors to meet their accelerated needs for fleet optimization and capacity expansion due to a shortage of popular aircraft models and thus boost the market value of such asset class further too.”
The Group added a total of 24 aircraft in 2022 resulting in a fleet of 176 aircraft as of December 31, 2022, including 150 owned aircraft and 26 managed aircraft. As at 31 December 2022, CALC had 226 aircraft on its order book, including 131 Airbus, 66 Boeing and 29 COMAC aircraft. The Group delivered a total of 28 aircraft, among which 18 aircraft were from the order book placement while 10 were completed through purchase and leaseback arrangements. As at 31 December 2022, the Group was ranked seventh among global lessors by ICF international in terms of the combined asset value of owned fleet and order book.
The Group reported a 5 percentage points in its rental collection rate closing at 102.4% compared to 2021
In 2022, CALC successfully delivered China’s home-developed jetliner ARJ21 to TransNusa. The Group placed its first freighter conversion order, marking the beginning of its passenger-to-freighter business.
The Group successfully issued the first low-carbon transition bond in China’s aviation industry amounting RMB1 billion and one RMB 1.2 billion corporate bond as well as a RMB 1.5 billion Medium-term note. Moody's Investors Service Co., Ltd. (“Moody’s”) and Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) reaffirmed CALC’s Corporate Family Rating at Ba1; and Long-Term Issuer Default Rating at BB+, with stable outlook, respectively.
Group’s subsidiary China Asset Leasing Company Limited (CALC) reported total revenue of RMB3,164 million and net profit of RMB460 million respectively, while total assets reached RMB37,856 million in 2022.
As at 31 December 2022, 76% of CALC’s owned fleet, by number of aircraft, was leased to Chinese airlines including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. CALC’s owned and managed aircraft were on lease to 38 airlines in 17 countries and regions. All aircraft to be delivered in the next 15 months after 31 December 2022 have been mandated for lease with lower remarketing pressure.
“In the coming year, the Group shall continue to enhance the profitability of our core business, planning ahead and proactively getting prepared for expanding our high-quality clientele in regions undergoing accelerating development, to seize more opportunities emerged from the booming global aviation market,” Poon concluded.