Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has reports strong earnings for the three months to end March 2023.
DAE’s total revenue was $315.2 million, up from $298 million in the prior year period. Profit for the quarter also rose to $69.2 million, up from $46.6 million a year ago.
DAE’s adjusted pre-tax profit margin is 23.3% for the quarter with an adjusted pre-tax return on equity of 9.9%. Operating cash flow for the reporting period was $283.8 million.
DAE’s Net Debt-to-Equity is now 2.47x. The lessor confirmed it had made open market bond repurchases of $205 million during the first quarter.
“Our first quarter 2023 financial results reflect a strong operating environment for airlines, an improving collections and credit profile, and profitable divestment activity. We have successfully integrated the acquisition of SKY Fund I into our platform following the acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2022,” said Firoz Tarapore, chief executive of DAE. “Our profitability metrics improved substantially during the quarter, and our credit quality and liquidity metrics remained strong. Interest rate volatility allowed us to repurchase US$205 million of principal amount of our bonds during the quarter. We have increased our bond repurchase authorization following additional repurchases in the second quarter.”
Tarapore also confirmed that DAE Engineering has continued to expand its offering and reach new milestones. “We commenced over 80 checks in the first quarter of 2023, and announced a number of new maintenance agreements, including with Air Europa and Emirates,” he said.