Avolon profits up 36% at €44 million

Profits at Irish-based aircraft leasing specialist, Avolon, grew almost 36 per cent to $49.4 million (€44 million) in the first quarter of the year, according to results released on Wednesday.

Avolon, which floated on the New York Stock Exchange in December, said that in the three months ended March 31st, lease revenues increased 36 per cent to $160.8 million from $118.2 million during the same period last year.

Profits were up $13 million or 35.7 per cent to $49.4 million from $36.4 million during the first three months of 2014. Avolon said that the growth was largely down to it buying and leasing additional aircraft and a drop in the interest it is paying on its loans.

Total debt at the end of March was $4.7 billion, while it also had $920 million of loans available to it that it had yet to draw down. Avolon last week agreed a new eight-year $675 million secured loan with its lenders at a margin of 1.65 per cent.

The cash will be used to finance upcoming aircraft deliveries and to refinance some of its existing debt. Six banks, including Bank of Ireland, BNP Paribas and HSBC agreed to provide the loan.

The total value of its 251 aircraft was $5.8 billion at the end of March, a 33 per cent increase on 2014, when it had 202 craft worth $4.4 billion.

Avolon buys aircraft from manufacturers using borrowed money and leases them to airlines at a profit. The company had 251 owned, managed and committed craft on its books at the end of March. It had placed them with 51 customers in 29 countries.

Commenting on the results, chief executive, Dómhnall Slattery, said: “Avolon delivered another strong performance in the first quarter of 2015 and again reported strong double-digit growth against all key financial and operating metrics”.