Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has received the applicable requisite antitrust clearance to finalise its acquisition of Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC), with the transaction expected to close in May, DAE’s CEO, Firoz Tarapore, said on the company’s first quarter earnings call.
DAE initially signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of NAC in January, with NAC shareholders approving the transaction one month later. This acquisition, valued at approximately $2bn, will add around 200 assets to the Dubai-based company’s portfolio, along with an incremental 25 aircraft on order with both Airbus and ATR.
Goldman Sachs International and Deutsche Bank acted as financial advisors to NAC during the transaction, with Clifford Chance and KPMG Deal Advisory acting as legal and accounting advisors, respectively.
“We expect to spend the next 90 days fully integrating the acquired business into our operations and our platform,” stated Tarapore. “But as soon as that's done, we expect to be back in the trading markets in the second half of this year.”
During the first quarter of the year, DAE reported a total revenue of $395.9 million, representing an increase of 15.2% or $52.3 million, when compared to the same three-month period of the year prior.
Tarapore noted these results as “spectacular”, citing the “favourable environment” that that company operates within.
The lessor also saw an increase in profit, up 26.5% on the first quarter of 2024, totalling $67.8 million. Operating profit reached $201.4 million for the period, rising by $45.7 million or 29.4% compared to the first quarter of last year. The company said that this was mainly driven by higher maintenance revenue and gains on aircraft disposals, partially offset by increased engineering service costs and provisions for loss allowance.
Total assets stood at $13.1bn as of March 31, 2025, up from $13.03bn at the end of 2024. The increase was primarily due to aircraft acquisitions, partly offset by a reduction in cash and cash equivalents, DAE confirmed.
Available liquidity was $3,018bn as of March 31, 2025, down from $3,785bn at the end of last year, with the company's liquidity coverage ratio seeing a decline to 213% from 274%.
DAE reported lease rental income of $321.4 million in the first quarter, including maintenance revenue, while engineering maintenance services revenue rose 32.8% on the year prior $64.4 million. Income from finance leases and loan receivables stood at $4.7 million.
Net cash generated from operating activities totalled $344.7 million, while net cash used in investing activities was $454.1 million.
Sinan Kahya, the company’s CFO stated on the first quarter earnings call that DAE is committed to keeping net leverage below 2.7x.
Operationally, the company reported a total fleet of 515 aircraft as of March 31, 2025, up from 506 at the end of December 2024. This included 331 owned aircraft, 112 managed, and 72 committed, compared to 329, 110, and 67, respectively, at the end of last year.
During the first quarter of 2025, the company purchased 13 owned aircraft, up from one in the same period last year, and acquired six managed aircraft, compared to four a year earlier. It sold 11 owned aircraft, more than double the five sold in the same three-month period of 2024, and disposed of four managed aircraft, up from one a year ago.
As of March 31, 2025, the average age of the company’s owned fleet was 7.1 years for passenger aircraft and 10.7 years for freighters, slightly down and up respectively from the end of 2024. The average remaining lease term rose to 6.6 years for passenger jets and 9.6 years for freighters. The unsecured debt ratio edged up to 80.1% from 79.4%.