DAE reports $340 million revenue in first quarter, Boeing deliveries ""markedly lower"" in 2024

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) reported a total revenue of $343.6 million for the first quarter of 2024, up 9% from 2023's first quarter result of $315.2 million. It reported a profit of $67.8 million for the quarter, down marginally year-on-year (YoY) from $69.2 million. Its operating profit saw a stable 0.7% increase to $155.7 million for the quarter, which was mainly attributable to higher revenues partially offset by decrease in gain on aircraft disposal and increase in overall expenses during the period. ""Strong demand for aircraft leasing and maintenance services drove total revenue growth of 9% in the first quarter,"" said DAE CEO Firoz Tarapore. ""Our order book positions until 2026 are committed on long-term leases to top rated airline customers."" Its total assets were $12.1bn as of the end of the first quarter, lower than its $12.3bn in total assets at the end of last year. The decrease was mainly due to aircraft sold and depreciation charge during the period. DAE's available liquidity was approximately $5bn at the end of March 2024, up from $4.1bn at the end of last year. Its net debt-to-equity ratio was 2.47 to 1 times as of March 31, 2024, compared to 2.53 to 1 times at December 31, 2023. Tarapore added: ""We continue to explore opportunities to grow the fleet count in our leasing division, and available hangar capacity in our engineering division."" In the earnings call, the company said its engineering division continues to do ""phenomenally well"". Tarapore said: ""Demand for MRO services still remains very elevated. Capacity is in short supply globally and we find that quite a few airlines are planning ahead and looking up MRO capacity to the best extent they can to give them the certainty that they need to keep the fleet up in the air. ""This is extremely beneficial to us as well because it allows us to lock in capacity but more importantly plan better in terms of manpower for that capacity."" Tarapore said in the earnings call that Boeing delivered ""only one aircraft"" in the first quarter and expects to receive an additional four this quarter. He said: ""We will see if all of that comes to pass because it is already a month into the quarter... and what they are now telling us [Boeing] will do for this year is markedly lower than what we had signed up for to receive in 2024, which is of course a disappointment."" He added: ""The only thing we can reliably expect from Boeing these days is a delivery delay notification as opposed to aircraft. So, we hope that they get their act together. And I'm sure they hope that as well."" Total number of aircraft in the fleet at the end of the quarter was 489, down from 493 at the end of last year. The fleet consisted of 314 owned, 109 managed, and 66 committed aircraft. It also purchased one owned aircraft and four managed aircraft throughout the quarter. It sold five owned aircraft and one managed aircraft in the quarter. Its ratio of unsecured debt to total debt was 74.1% at the quarter's end, compared to 73.3% at the end of last year.