Dépêches

Republic Airways Holdings Announces First Quarter 2011 Financial Results

Dépèche transmise le 3 mai 2011 par Business Wire

Republic Airways Holdings Announces First Quarter 2011 Financial Results

Republic Airways Holdings Announces First Quarter 2011 Financial Results

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ/NM: RJET) reported the following key financial results for the first quarter of 2011 compared to 2010:

             
March 31,
(unaudited) 2011       2010 % Change
 
Total operating revenues (millions) $ 659.1 $ 608.7 8.3 %
Frontier TRASM (cents) 10.85 9.53 13.9 %
Operating loss (millions) $ (0.6 ) $ (20.0 ) -97.0 %
Operating margin -0.1 % -3.3 % 3.2 pts
 
EBITDAR (millions) $ 120.2 $ 114.5 5.0 %
EBITDAR margin 18.2 % 18.8 % -0.6 pts
 

Operating revenues of $659.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, increased 8.3%, compared to $608.7 million for the same period last year. The increase in revenues is primarily due to a 13.9% increase in Frontier’s unit revenues. On a GAAP basis, the Company reported a net loss of $22.4 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, compared to $36.5 million net loss, or $1.06 per diluted share, for the same period last year.

The Company is also reporting an ex-item net loss of $18.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, compared to an ex-item net loss of $16.4 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, for the three month periods ended March 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The loss per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 includes the effect of the Company’s November 2010 equity offering of 13.8 million shares.

The following tables present the reconciliation of pre-tax earnings and losses on a GAAP basis to the reported ex-item pre-tax results for the periods ended March 31, 2011 and 2010:

        March 31, 2011
Pre-tax by Segment       After-tax
($ in millions) Fixed-fee       Branded       Other       Consolidated Consolidated
GAAP pre-tax income (loss) $ 17.6 $ (55.2 ) $ 1.7 $ (35.9 ) $ (22.4 )
Adjustments:
Integration and aircraft return expenses - 2.0 - 2.0 1.3
Severe storm impact   2.0   2.0     -   4.0     2.5  
Ex-item pre-tax income (loss) $ 19.6 $ (51.2 ) $ 1.7 $ (29.9 ) $ (18.6 )
 
        March 31, 2010
Pre-tax by Segment       After-tax
($ in millions) Fixed-fee       Branded       Other       Consolidated Consolidated
GAAP pre-tax income (loss) $ 14.3       $ (70.4 )       $ (2.3 )       $ (58.4 ) $ (36.5 )
Adjustments:
Other impairment charges - 11.5 - 11.5 7.2
Integration and aircraft return expenses 2.0 11.1 - 13.1 8.2
Severe storm impact   2.0   5.5     -     7.5     4.7  
Ex-item pre-tax income (loss) $ 18.3 $ (42.3 ) $ (2.3 ) $ (26.3 ) $ (16.4 )

First Quarter 2011 Highlights

Fixed-fee Segment

Excluding fuel reimbursement from our partners, fixed-fee service revenues were flat compared to the prior year’s first quarter. Income before taxes on the fixed-fee operations improved 23.1% to $17.6 million for the quarter compared to a pre-tax income of $14.3 million for the first quarter of 2010, which included $2.0 million of CRJ aircraft return costs. Cost per ASM (CASM), including interest expense but excluding fuel increased 0.9% to 8.14¢ for the first quarter of 2011, from 8.07¢ for the same quarter of 2010.

Branded Segment

The Company’s branded business segment includes all operations marketed as Frontier Airlines. Total revenues on Frontier increased 12.2% to $395.4 million for the quarter, compared to $352.3 million for the same period in 2010. Capacity on Frontier, as measured by ASMs, was down 1.4% year over year for the first quarter. Load factor was 78.7% for the quarter, up 3.0 points from the first quarter of 2010 and total revenue per ASM (TRASM) was 10.85¢, up 13.9% from the same quarter in 2010. For the quarter ended, March 31, 2011, Frontier posted a pre-tax loss of $55.2 million compared to a pre-tax loss of $70.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

The unit cost for Frontier, excluding fuel, was 7.77¢ for the quarter, a 5.2% increase from 7.38¢ (excluding impairments) for the same metric for the first quarter of 2010. The unit cost increase was due mainly to higher engine restoration and heavy maintenance on the Airbus fleet and higher advertising costs.

Fuel costs for Frontier were $158.7 million for the quarter. The fuel cost per gallon, including into-plane taxes and fees, increased 23.7% to $2.92 for the first quarter of 2011 compared to $2.36 for the prior year’s first quarter. The increase in price resulted in $30.5 million additional fuel expense in the first quarter of 2011, as compared to first quarter 2010. The first quarter 2011 result includes unrealized fuel hedge gains of $8.7 million, or $0.16 per gallon. The first quarter 2010 result includes fuel hedge losses of $1.6 million, or $0.03 per gallon.

Other Segment

The Company’s “other” business segment includes revenues from aircraft subleases, license fees on slots at DCA airport and expenses associated with those activities, as well as any unassigned aircraft expenses. The Company reported pre-tax income of $1.7 million in the first quarter compared to a pre-tax loss of $2.3 million for the first quarter of 2010 as idle aircraft were placed back into service during 2010.

Fleet

The operational fleet increased from December 31, 2010 by five aircraft to 280 aircraft as of March 31, 2011. The Company took delivery of two A320 aircraft and placed three A319 aircraft into service during the quarter.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

The Company’s cash balance increased $37.0 million to $467.3 million as of March 31, 2011 compared to December 31, 2010. Restricted cash increased $86.8 million, to $225.9 from December 31, 2010 due to the seasonality of Frontier’s bookings. The restricted cash balance compared to March 31, 2010 was $13.5 million lower due to the reduction in the Frontier’s credit card holdback from 100% to 95%. The Company’s unrestricted cash balance decreased $49.8 million, to $241.4 million, from December 31, 2010.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $7.7 million. Net cash used in investing activities was $19.9 million. During the quarter, the Company made payments on debt of $51.4 million, and received proceeds of $13.8 million for advanced mileage purchases.

The Company’s debt decreased to $2.55 billion as of March 31, 2011 compared to $2.58 billion at December 31, 2010. As of March 31, 2011, approximately 85% of the total debt is fixed-rate. The Company has significant long-term lease obligations for aircraft that are classified as operating leases and are not reflected as liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet. At a 7.0% discount factor, the present value of these lease obligations was approximately $1.16 billion as of March 31, 2011, which was essentially unchanged since December 31, 2010.

Recent Business Developments

On April 28, 2011, the Company announced it has amended its capacity purchase agreement with Delta Air Lines to provide for the addition of six dual-class E170 aircraft. This amendment follows a previously announced amendment in January 2011 in which Delta added eight E170 aircraft to its capacity purchase agreement with the Company. All 14 E170s are transitioning from Frontier operations and are expected to be operating for Delta by October 1, 2011.

Corporate Information

Republic Airways Holdings Inc., based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is an airline holding company that owns Chautauqua Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Lynx Aviation, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America, collectively “the airlines.” The airlines offer scheduled passenger service on approximately 1,600 flights daily to 132 cities in 44 states, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico under branded operations at Frontier and through fixed-fee airline services agreements with five major U.S. airlines. The fixed-fee flights are operated under one of the following airline partner brands: AmericanConnection, Continental Express, Delta Connection, United Express, or US Airways Express. As of the date of this release, the airlines employ approximately 10,500 aviation professionals and operate 280 aircraft. For more information on Republic Airways please visit our website at www.rjet.com.

The Company will conduct a telephone briefing to discuss its first quarter tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. EDT. This call is being webcast by Thomson/Reuters and can be accessed at Republic Airways Holdings’ website at www.rjet.com. For those wishing to participate, please call 800-920-8624, and for international calls please dial 617-597-5430; the password is 98803394.

Additional Information

In addition to historical information, this release contains forward-looking statements. Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (the “Company”) may, from time-to-time, make written or oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements encompass Republic Airways’ beliefs, expectations, hopes or intentions regarding future events. Words such as “expects,” “intends,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “plan,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” or “likely” and similar expressions as well as the negative of such expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements included in this release are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available to Republic Airways as of such date. Republic Airways assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Actual results may vary, and could differ materially, from those anticipated, estimated, projected or expected in these forward-looking statements for a number of reasons, including, among others, the risk factors disclosed in the Company’s most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

REPUBLIC AIRWAYS HOLDINGS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In millions, except share and per share amounts)
(Unaudited)
           
Financial Highlights Three Months Ended March 31,
2011 2010 Change
OPERATING REVENUES
Fixed-fee service $ 258.8 $ 251.0 3.1 %
Passenger service 377.6 336.5 12.2 %
Cargo and other   22.7         21.2       7.1 %
Total operating revenues 659.1 608.7 8.3 %
 
OPERATING EXPENSES
Wages and benefits 139.7 139.1 0.4 %
Aircraft fuel 180.8 144.1 25.5 %
Landing fees and airport rents 42.5 39.0 9.0 %
Aircraft and engine rent 60.1 60.8 -1.2 %
Maintenance and repair 70.1 57.9 21.1 %
Insurance and taxes 10.4 10.8 -3.7 %
Depreciation and amortization 51.1 51.5 -0.8 %
Promotion and sales 38.7 32.5 19.1 %
Other impairment charges - 11.5 -100.0 %
Other   66.3         81.5       -18.7 %
Total operating expenses   659.7         628.7       4.9 %
OPERATING INCOME (LOSS) (0.6 ) (20.0 ) -97.0 %
 
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE)
Interest expense (35.5 ) (38.6 ) -8.0 %
Other - net   0.2         0.2       0.0 %

Total other expense

  (35.3 )       (38.4 )     -8.1 %
 
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES (35.9 ) (58.4 ) -38.5 %
 
INCOME TAX EXPENSE (BENEFIT)   (13.5 )       (21.9 )     -38.4 %
 
NET INCOME (LOSS) OF THE COMPANY $ (22.4 )     $ (36.5 )     -38.6 %
PER SHARE, BASIC $ (0.46 ) $ (1.06 ) -56.6 %
PER SHARE, DILUTED $ (0.46 ) $ (1.06 ) -56.6 %
Weighted Average Common Shares
Basic 48.2 34.3 40.5 %
Diluted 48.2 34.3 40.5 %
 
REPUBLIC AIRWAYS HOLDINGS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
UNAUDITED OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
           
Three Months Ended March 31,
Operating Highlights – Fixed-fee     2011     2010     Change
Fixed-fee service revenues, excluding fuel (millions) 1 $ 236.7 $ 236.4 0.1 %
Passengers carried 3,749,929 3,818,256 -1.8 %
Revenue passenger miles (thousands) 1,824,786 1,964,567 -7.1 %
Available seat miles (thousands) 2,692,411 2,752,213 -2.2 %
Passenger load factor 67.8 % 71.4 % -3.6 pts
Total cost per available seat mile, including interest expense (cents) 2 8.96 8.60 4.2 %
Operating cost per available seat mile, including interest and excluding fuel expense (cents) 2 8.14 8.07 0.9 %
Operating aircraft at period end:
37-50 seats 65 63 3.2 %
70-86 seats 112 112 -
Block hours 145,590 143,915 1.2 %
Departures 84,804 82,399 2.9 %
Average daily utilization of each scheduled aircraft (hours) 9.9 9.6 3.1 %
Average stage length 475 498 -4.6 %
Average seat density 67 67 -
 
Operating Highlights – Branded                  
Total revenues (millions) $ 395.4 $ 352.3 12.2 %
Passengers carried 3,245,040 3,211,375 1.0 %
Revenue passenger miles (thousands) 2,867,915 2,799,513 2.4 %
Available seat miles (thousands) 3,644,100 3,696,696 -1.4 %
Passenger load factor 78.7 % 75.7 % 3.0 pts
Total revenue per available seat mile (cents) 10.85 9.53 13.9 %
Passenger revenue per ASM (cents) 10.36 9.10 13.8 %
Total cost per available seat mile (cents) 3, 4 12.12 11.19 8.3 %
Fuel cost per available seat mile (cents) 3 4.35 3.50 24.3 %
Operating cost per available seat mile, excluding fuel expense (cents) 4 7.77 7.38 5.2 %
Gallons consumed 54,408,497 54,896,351

Business Wire

Les plus belles photos d'avions
Boeing 777-2H6/ER (9M-MRG) Airbus A330-243 (4R-ALB) McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (HB-IWK) Embraer ERJ-145LR (HB-JAK) Embraer ERJ-145EP (SP-LGC) Embraer ERJ-145LR (I-EXMG)