Fly Leasing has reported a net income of $2.9 million for the second quarter of 2017 or nine cents per share. This compares to net income of $4.7 million, or $0.14 per share, for the same period in 2016. Adjusted net income was $9.7 million, compared to $15.0 million for the same period in the previous year. During the period, Fly Leasing repurchased nearly two million shares at an average price of $13.07 per share, acquired five aircraft, four of which were new deliveries from manufacturers, and upsized a term loan by $50 million and repriced a term loan, saving approximately $2 million in annual interest.
“We grew our fleet by investing $290 million in five aircraft in the second quarter, including four new aircraft purchased from the manufacturers,” said Colm Barrington, CEO of FLY. “The five aircraft are on leases with an average term of 11 years, further enhancing the overall quality of our fleet. We expect to see improved earnings from these aircraft, and others in our pipeline, as the year progresses.”
“FLY continues to aggressively repurchase its shares,” added Barrington. “In the second quarter, we bought back nearly two million shares for a total of $25.9 million. At quarter end, we repurchased approximately 6.5 percent of the shares outstanding at the beginning of the year. Our average repurchase price of just over $13 per share has helped increase our net book value per share this year to $19.08.”
“We are focused on growth and have a strong pipeline of attractive aircraft investments that we expect to announce in the coming months,” said Barrington. “We expect to meet our $750 million acquisition target in 2017 – and we have the financial resources to acquire an additional $2 billion of aircraft.”
At June 30, 2017, FLY’s total assets were $3.5 billion, including investment in flight equipment totaling $3.0 billion. Total cash at June 30, 2017 was $455.2 million, of which $335.5 was unrestricted. The book value per share at June 30, 2017 was $19.08.
At June 30, 2017, FLY’s 81 aircraft were on lease to 45 airlines in 29 countries. The average age of the portfolio, weighted by net book value of each aircraft, was 6.1 years. The average remaining lease term was 6.8 years, also weighted by net book value. At June 30, 2017, the 81 aircraft were generating annualized rental revenue of approximately $352 million. FLY’s lease utilization factor was 100% for the second quarter of 2017.