JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU)

[KingDMC]

JETBLUE ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER RESULTS

NEW YORK (October 27, 2015) -- JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) today reported its results for the third quarter 2015:

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Operating income of $351 million in the third quarter. This compares to operating income of $164 million in the third quarter of 2014.

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Pre-tax income of $322 million in the third quarter. This compares to pre-tax income of $132 million in the third quarter of 2014.

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Net income of $198 million, or $0.58 per diluted share. This compares to JetBlue’s third quarter 2014 net income of $79 million, or $0.24 per diluted share.

Financial Performance

JetBlue reported record third quarter operating revenues of $1.7 billion. Revenue passenger miles for the third quarter increased 9.2% to 11.1 billion on a capacity increase of 10.4%, resulting in a third quarter load factor of 85.3%, a decrease of 0.9 point year over year.

Yield per passenger mile in the third quarter was 14.02 cents, up 0.5% compared to the third quarter of 2014. Passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) for the third quarter 2015 decreased 0.6% year over year to 11.96 cents and operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM) was essentially flat year over year at 13.01 cents.

Operating expenses for the quarter decreased 2.0%, or $29 million, over the prior year period. Interest expense for the quarter declined 16.2%, or $5 million, as JetBlue continued to reduce its debt. JetBlue’s operating expense per available seat mile (CASM) for the third quarter decreased 11.2% year over year to 10.30 cents. Excluding fuel and profit sharing, third quarter CASM1 increased 2.4% to 7.31 cents.

Operational Performance

System on time departures, or D0, decreased 2.4 points year-over-year in the third quarter. System arrival performance, or A14, improved 1.4 points. Completion factor improved 0.5 points.

“We posted another strong result in the third quarter as our revenue growth outperformed the industry and we ran an efficient and safe operation. These results are a testament to the hard work of our 18,000 crewmembers that provide outstanding customer service and inspire humanity each day.” said Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s President and CEO.


Fuel Expense and Hedging

In the third quarter JetBlue had hedges in place for approximately 14% of its fuel consumption. This resulted in a realized fuel price of $1.85 per gallon, a 39% decrease versus third quarter 2014 realized fuel price of $3.05. JetBlue recorded $27 million in losses on fuel hedges settling during the third quarter.


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JetBlue has hedged approximately 15% of its fourth quarter 2015 projected fuel requirements using a combination of jet fuel swaps and collars. Based on the fuel curve as of October 16th, JetBlue expects an average price per gallon of fuel, including the impact of hedges and fuel taxes, of $1.77 in the fourth quarter. JetBlue currently has no fuel hedges in place for 2016 or beyond.

Liquidity and Cash Flow
JetBlue ended the quarter with $1.1 billion in unrestricted cash and short term investments, or about 18% of trailing twelve month revenue. In addition, JetBlue maintains approximately $600 million in undrawn lines of credit.
During the third quarter, JetBlue repaid $54 million in regularly scheduled debt and capital lease obligations. JetBlue anticipates paying approximately $91 million in regularly scheduled debt and capital lease obligations and plans to buy out the leases on six A320 aircraft during the fourth quarter.
On September 15 JetBlue closed its previously announced Accelerated Share Repurchase program. In total, JetBlue purchased 6.8 million shares at a weighted average share price of $22.06. In addition, in September 2015 JetBlue entered into a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan agreement as part of its share buyback program announced in 2012, covering purchases of up to 3 million shares from October 30, 2015 through December 31, 2015.
“We continue to post strong financial results, generate healthy free cash flow, and strengthen our balance sheet.” said Mark Powers, JetBlue’s Chief Financial Officer. “Looking forward, we will allocate our capital to investments that will improve our return on invested capital and enhance the execution of the initiatives we outlined at our last Investor Day.”
Fourth Quarter and Full Year Outlook
CASM excluding fuel and profit sharing is expected to increase between zero and 2.0% in the fourth quarter 2015 and between zero and 1.0% percent for the full year. This represents a 0.5% reduction to the top end of our full year CASM excluding fuel and profit sharing guidance range.

Capacity is expected to increase between 8.5% and 10.5% in the fourth quarter 2015 and between 8.5% and 9.5% for the full year. The 0.5% increase to the high end of our full year capacity guidance range is a function of additional Mint service driven by higher utilization of our Mint fleet, and continued better than expected completion factor.

JetBlue will conduct a conference call to discuss its quarterly earnings today, October 27, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. A live broadcast of the conference call will be available via the internet at http://investor.jetblue.com.