Fly Leasing posted strong third quarter results for 2010. Adjusted net income was $14.1 million, excluding $1.9 million of share-based compensation, with net income of $12.2 million. Generated available cash flow is $40.4 million.
The lessor entered into purchase agreements for the acquisition of three new 737-800s and sold three aircraft for net cash proceeds of $86.3 million. It also repurchased 1.6 million shares at an average of $10.70 per share and declared its 12th consecutive quarterly dividend on October 15.
“In the third quarter, FLY continued to implement its strategy of enhancing shareholder value while producing another strong financial result. In the quarter we spent $17.6 million on repurchasing a further 1.6 million shares at an average price of $10.70 per share and paid a quarterly dividend of 20 cents per share. Meanwhile our Available Cash Flow per share was $1.48 for the quarter compared to $0.96 in the same quarter last year, an increase of over 50%,” said Colm Barrington, FLY’s CEO. “We have now placed several aircraft that were off-lease during the quarter and expect our fleet to be leased or committed to airlines by the end of the year.”
He adds: “We are particularly pleased with the results from the sale of three of our aircraft, including one 15 year old model, all for prices above net book value and for net cash proceeds of $86.3 million, or $32.5 million after repayment of the debt associated with these aircraft. These sales were particularly cash generative and at the end of September our total cash stood at $360.6 million. The cash generated by the sales will provide us with further opportunities to grow the fleet. We are also very pleased with the outcome of our investment in BBAM, which provided equity earnings of $1.3 million in the quarter.”
Barrington confirmed that FLY will continue to focus on “sensible growth” while actively managing its fleet in order to keep it “young, diversified and in high demand”.