[200221.EN.AIR] Atlas Air 2020 Results Exceed Expectations Due to Historic Volumes

 

UPSTATE New York freighter operator Atlas Air Worldwide reversed last year's 2019 loss of US$293.1 million into a 2020 net profit of $360.3 million, drawn on revenues of $3.2 billion, up 17.2 per cent year on year.

Results "exceeded expectations", thanks to "historic volumes" driven by e-commerce growth, as well as the requirements of the Covid crisis.

"We finished this unprecedented year on a strong note, with financial and operating results that exceeded our expectations," said Atlas CEO John Dietrich.

"In the face of unrelenting operational complexities driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, we added widebody capacity, increased aircraft utilisation and grew block hours to carry historic volumes, including essential goods that businesses, communities and individuals require as well as holiday e-commerce packages," he said.

"We are leveraging our unrivaled portfolio of assets and the scale of our global network. We are also continuing to diversify our customer base and have entered into numerous long-term charter agreements with strategic customers, such as Cainiao, Flexport and HP Inc. These agreements will provide reliable and attractive revenue streams for the years ahead."

Volumes during 2020 amounted to 344,821 block hours, compared with 321,140 in 2019 - a 7.4 per cent year-on-year increase.

Looking at the Atlas Air Worldwide's divisional results for full-year 2020, the charter division increased year-on-year revenues 42 per cent to $1.9 billion.

The charter division's direct contribution increased 274.7 per cent to $559.7 million last year.

But revenues in the company's ACMI division decreased by 2.9 per cent year on year, from $1.24 billion to $1.21 billion.

The ACMI division's direct contribution declined by 17.6 per cent ¡ª from ¡ê218.5m to $180m.

Atlas Air Worldwide's dry leasing division saw revenues decrease by 17.7 per cent year on year, from $200.8 million to $165.2 million.

The dry leasing division also reported a 41.7 per cent year-on-year decline in direct contributions last year ¡ª from $70.4m to $41m.

The charter division in Q4 last year achieved revenues of $559.2 million - a 54.9 per cent year-on-year increase on a year earlier.

Direct contribution for the charter division in Q4 last year was $186.3m ¡ª a 166.8 per cent year-on-year increase on the same period in 2019.

"Higher charter segment revenue during the quarter was primarily due to an increase in flying, partially offset by a slight decrease in the average revenue per block hour due to lower fuel costs," the company said.

But revenues for the ACMI division in Q4 decreased 2.1 per cent to $337.8 million.

Meanwhile, the dry leasing division achieved revenues of $41.6 million in Q4 last year - a 4.2 per cent decline on the same period in 2019.

At $11 million, the dry leasing division's direct contribution in Q4 2020 was 6.1 per cent less than a year earlier.

Looking forward, the company said it expects to fly 85,000 block hours in the first quarter of 2021, with revenue of $820 million, and adjusted Ebitda of about $150 million.

"In addition, we expect first-quarter 2021 adjusted net income to grow 60 per cent to 65 per cent compared with adjusted net income of $29.9 million in the first quarter of 2020," Mr Dietrich said.

Source : HKSG / Photo : Atlas Air.