Sun Country Airlines reported fourth quarter (Q4) 2022 gains and a record annual revenue of almost $900 million, a more than 40% increase on 2021.
A Q4 profit of $7.3 million and $17.7 million for the year was reported by thew carrier, which said Q4 revenue came to $227.2 million. Adjusted operating income was $15.9 million, a margin of just under 8%.
The carrier said that as of the end of January 2023, a previously announced $25 million accelerated share repurchase (ASR) programme had been completed, with the company repurchasing approximately 1.4 million shares at an average price of $18.23, leaving it with $25 million for for further share repurchases. Total liquidity was $289.4 million at the end of 2022, while net debt was $364.9 million.
“Fourth quarter demand continued to remain strong,” said Dave Davis, president and chief financial officer. “Both revenue and adjusted operating margin were near the high end of our guidance. We have continued to prudently grow our airline as we have overcome supply chain challenges and the complexities of implementing a new pilot agreement. Our passenger fleet count increased 16.7% in 2022 and we ended the year with 571 pilots, which is 25% higher than 2021. Adjusted CASM grew 8.6% in 2022 due largely to the implementation of a new labour agreement and constraints on our growth that resulted in less-than-planned capacity. We expect these pressures to moderate substantially in 2023.”
"Despite constraints on our growth, the impact of Omicron in Q1 and a 71% increase in fuel prices versus 2021, we produced a GAAP pre-tax margin of 2.7% and an adjusted pre-tax margin of 3.7% for the year while growing scheduled service block hours nearly 18%. Over the important holiday travel season, our operations team produced the industry’s highest completion factor of 99.3%. We are very optimistic about 2023, as we continue to see strong bookings, unit revenues and earnings growth heading into Q1," said Jude Bricker, Sun Country's chief executive,
Among the operating highlights for the year were the announcements of 15 new routes to 12 new destinations in 2023, connecting Minneapolis-St. Paul to Kansas City and Colorado Springs, among others. The carrier said it added Jennifer Vogel to its board of directors in December 2022 and followed that by welcoming Gail Peterson to the board a month later.