ATSG Reports First Quarter 2024 Results
Source: Business Wire
Raises 2024 Financial Outlook
Expands and Extends Flying Agreement with Amazon
Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSG), the leading provider of medium wide-body freighter aircraft leasing, contracted air transportation, and related services, today reported consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. Those results, as compared with the same period in 2023, were as follows:
First Quarter Results
Revenues $486 million, down 3%
GAAP Earnings per Share (diluted) from Continuing Operations $0.13, down $0.12
GAAP Pretax Earnings from Continuing Operations $12.4 million, down $14.1 million
Adjusted Pretax* Earnings $15.2 million, down $22.6 million
Adjusted EPS* $0.16, down $0.20
Adjusted EBITDA* $127.3 million, down 8%
Earlier today, ATSG announced agreements to operate ten additional Boeing 767 freighters for Amazon.com Services LLC by the end of 2024, and to extend their commercial flying agreement to May 2029, with mutual extension rights for five additional years. The agreement includes the award to Amazon of an additional 2.9 million warrants to purchase ATSG common shares and changes to the terms of existing warrants already held by Amazon, as described in the Form 8-K we will file.
Joe Hete, chairman and chief executive officer of ATSG, said, "I am proud of the focus and execution of the entire ATSG team as we continue to navigate a challenging market. The changes to our Amazon arrangement announced earlier today are a testament to the high quality of service we provide to our customer. Our priorities remain safe operations, customer satisfaction, cost control, and disciplined capital allocation. We completed the conversion and delivery of four 767-300 freighters to customers in the quarter. Additionally, we have customer interest in other aircraft we have available for lease. We are focused on generating positive cash flow in 2024 and are off to a strong start in the first quarter, having generated $15 million in Free Cash Flow*."
* Adjusted EPS (Earnings per Share), Adjusted Pretax Earnings, Adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization), Free Cash Flow, and Adjusted Free Cash Flow are non-GAAP financial measures and are defined and reconciled to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP at the end of this release.
Segment Results
Cargo Aircraft Management (CAM)
Aircraft leasing and related revenues decreased 7% for the first quarter, reflecting the benefit of revenues from fifteen additional freighter leases, including twelve additional 767-300s and three Airbus A321-200s since the end of March 2023. These leases were more than offset by the returns of twelve 767-200 freighters and four 767-300 freighters over that same period. Revenue reductions associated with the 767-200 fleet include the effect of fewer cycles operated by lessees under our 767-200 engine power program. Excluding the revenues from that program, segment revenues would have been flat versus the prior-year quarter.
CAM’s first quarter pretax earnings decreased $21 million, or 61%, to $13 million versus the prior-year quarter. The biggest driver of the year-over-year decrease was the previously mentioned reduction in 767-200 freighter lease and engine power program revenues. Segment interest expense and depreciation both increased by $5 million versus the prior-year quarter.
CAM deployed four newly converted 767-300 freighters to external lessees during the quarter. Three 767-200 freighters and one 767-300 freighter were returned upon lease expiration, with the 767-300 and one of the 767-200s subsequently leased to ABX Air. At the end of the first quarter, ninety CAM-owned freighter aircraft were leased to external customers, two fewer than a year ago.
Twenty-four CAM-owned aircraft were in or awaiting conversion to freighters at the end of the first quarter, three fewer than at the end of the prior-year quarter. This included thirteen 767s, six A321s, and five A330s.
ACMI Services
Pretax loss was $3 million in the first quarter, versus a loss of $2 million in the first quarter of 2023. For the quarter, interest expense increased by $0.5 million.
Revenue block hours for ATSG's airlines decreased 3% versus the prior-year quarter. The decrease included three fewer aircraft in service than a year ago. Cargo block hours decreased 3% for the first quarter, driven by a mix of routes that included more domestic and less international flying than a year ago. Passenger block hours were flat in the quarter, as more charter flying hours for Omni Air International offset fewer flying hours for the military versus the prior-year quarter.
2024 Outlook
Taking into account the flying opportunities from ten more Amazon 767 freighters, ATSG expects Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $516 million in 2024, an increase of $10 million from the outlook provided in February 2024. This forecast excludes any contribution from additional aircraft leases or flying opportunities not currently under contractual commitment. This projection assumes the startup of all ten Amazon-provided 767-300s prior to December 1, 2024, and costs associated with bringing them into service and adding over 50 additional pilots at ABX Air. The Company continues to see the potential for additional Adjusted EBITDA from new lease commitments for available aircraft and opportunities for additional flying.
Capital spending expectations for 2024 remain unchanged at $410 million, down $380 million from 2023. ATSG's total projected capital spend includes growth capital of $245 million.
The projection for Adjusted EPS remains unchanged at 55 cents to 80 cents diluted for 2024, assuming a stable share count at current levels.
Hete concluded, “We have made significant progress toward achieving positive free cash flow in 2024. The expansion of our flying agreement with Amazon should only help reach that goal. Our amended agreement also provides opportunity for a combination of up to ten lease extensions and/or additional assigned aircraft, beyond the initial ten we will bring into service this year. Furthermore, CAM is well-positioned to lease additional freighters to other customers with minimal incremental capital investment as market demand improves. We look forward to further cash flow improvement next year, with increased Adjusted EBITDA and even lower capex."
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This release, including the attached tables reconciling results to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") in the United States, contains financial measures that are not calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP ("non-GAAP financial measures"), as further described in such tables. Management uses these non-GAAP financial measures to evaluate historical results and project future results. Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures assist in highlighting operational trends, facilitating period-over-period comparisons, and providing additional clarity about events and trends affecting core operating performance. Disclosing these non-GAAP financial measures provides insight to investors about additional metrics that management uses to evaluate past performance and prospects for future performance. Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of the Company's results as reported under GAAP and may be calculated differently by other companies.
The historical non-GAAP financial measures included in this release are reconciled to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP in the non-GAAP reconciliation tables included later in this release. The Company does not provide a reconciliation of projected Adjusted EBITDA or Adjusted EPS, as permitted by Item 10(e)(1)(i)(B) of Regulation S-K, because it is unable to predict with reasonable accuracy the value of certain adjustments and as a result, the comparable GAAP measures are unavailable without unreasonable efforts. For example, certain adjustments can be significantly impacted by the re-measurements of financial instruments including stock warrants issued to a customer. The Company’s earnings on a GAAP basis, including its earnings per share on a GAAP basis, and the non-GAAP adjustments for gains and losses resulting from the re-measurement of stock warrants, will depend on, among other things, the future prices of ATSG stock, interest rates, and other assumptions which are highly uncertain. As a result, the Company believes such reconciliations of forward-looking information would imply a degree of precision and certainty that could be confusing to investors.
Conference Call
ATSG will host an investor conference call on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time to review its results for the first quarter of 2024, and its outlook for the remainder of the year. Live call participants must register via this link, which is also available at ATSG’s website (www.atsginc.com) under “Investors” and “Presentations.” Once registered, call participants will receive dial-in numbers and a unique Personal Identification Number (PIN) that must be entered to join the live call. Listen-only access to live and replay versions of the call, including slides, will be available via a webcast link at the same ATSG website location. Slides that accompany management’s discussion of first-quarter results may be downloaded from there starting shortly before the start of the call at 10 a.m.
About ATSG
ATSG is a leading provider of aircraft leasing and air cargo transportation and related services to domestic and foreign air carriers and other companies that outsource their air cargo lift requirements. ATSG, through its leasing and airline subsidiaries, is the world's largest owner and operator of converted Boeing 767 freighter aircraft. Through its principal subsidiaries, including three airlines with separate and distinct U.S. FAA Part 121 Air Carrier certificates, ATSG provides aircraft leasing, air cargo lift, passenger ACMI and charter services, aircraft maintenance services and airport ground services. ATSG's subsidiaries include ABX Air, Inc.; Airborne Global Solutions, Inc.; Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services, Inc., including its subsidiary, Pemco World Air Services, Inc.; Air Transport International, Inc.; Cargo Aircraft Management, Inc.; and Omni Air International, LLC. For more information, please see www.atsginc.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Throughout this release, Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (“ATSG") makes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended (the “Act”). Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Such statements are provided under the “safe harbor” protection of the Act. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding anticipated operating results, prospects and levels of assets under management, technological developments, economic trends, expected transactions and similar matters. The words “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “target,” “goal,” “project,” “estimate,” “guidance,” “forecast,” “outlook,” “will,” “continue,” “likely,” “should,” “hope,” “seek,” “plan,” “intend” and variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Similarly, descriptions of ATSG’s objectives, strategies, plans, goals or targets are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are susceptible to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors. While ATSG believes that the assumptions underlying its forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that any of the assumptions could prove to be inaccurate and, accordingly, ATSG’s actual results and experiences could differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in its forward-looking statements. A number of important factors could cause ATSG's actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: (i) unplanned changes in the market demand for our assets and services, including the loss of customers or a reduction in the level of services we perform for customers; (ii) our operating airlines' ability to maintain on-time service and control costs; (iii) the cost and timing with respect to which we are able to purchase and modify aircraft to a cargo configuration; (iv) fluctuations in ATSG's traded share price and in interest rates, which may result in mark-to-market charges on certain financial instruments; (v) the number, timing, and scheduled routes of our aircraft deployments to customers; (vi) our ability to remain in compliance with key agreements with customers, lenders and government agencies; (vii) the impact of current supply chain constraints both within and outside the United States, which may be more severe or persist longer than we currently expect; (viii) the impact of the current competitive labor market, which could restrict our ability to fill key positions; (ix) changes in general economic and/or industry-specific conditions, including inflation and regulatory changes; and (x) other uncontrollable factors such as geopolitical tensions or conflicts and human health crises. Other factors that could cause ATSG’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are discussed in “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of ATSG's Form 10-K and are contained from time to time in its other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual reports on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Readers should carefully review this release and should not place undue reliance on ATSG's forward-looking statements. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and factors that ATSG currently deems immaterial may become material, and it is impossible for ATSG to predict these events or how they may affect it. These forward-looking statements were based only on information, plans and estimates as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable law, ATSG undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events or other changes. ATSG does not endorse any projections regarding future performance that may be made by third parties.
