Atlas Air Worldwide Reports First-Quarter 2016 Results

ACMI results in the first quarter of 2016 reflected a reduction in revenue and revenue per block hour, mainly related to an increase in CMI flying in 2016 and the impact of payments received in 2015 on the return of an aircraft. Results were also affected by an increase in crew training costs associated with our fleet growth initiatives, partially offset by a reduction in heavy maintenance expense.

In Charter, results on a year-over-year basis were indicative of our ability to capitalize on the very strong demand for airfreight in the first half of 2015, which was driven by throughput issues at U.S. West Coast ports. Segment contribution during the quarter was also affected by an increase in crew training costs associated with our fleet growth initiatives, partially offset by an increase in block-hour volumes driven by higher military passenger and cargo demand. Lower revenue per block hour during the period was primarily due to a reduction in fuel prices in 2016 and the impact of higher rates related to the U.S. West Coast port disruption in 2015.

In Dry Leasing, lower revenue and segment contribution resulted from a decrease in revenue from maintenance payments related to the scheduled return of a passenger aircraft, partially offset by revenue from the placement of 767 freighter aircraft in December 2015 and February 2016.

Reported results in the first quarter of 2016 included a special charge for aircraft engines held for sale. Reported earnings for the period reflected an effective income tax rate of 42.8%, due mainly to nondeductible acquisition-related expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition of Southern.

Cash and Short-Term Investments

At March 31, 2016, our cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and restricted cash totaled $335.9 million, compared with $444.0 million at December 31, 2015.

The change in position reflected cash used for investing and financing activities, partially offset by cash provided by operating activities.

Net cash used for investing activities during the first quarter of 2016 primarily related to capital expenditures, purchase deposits and delivery payments for flight equipment, including the acquisition of 767-300 aircraft to be converted to freighter configuration, partially offset by proceeds from investments. 

Net cash used for financing activities primarily reflected payments on debt obligations. 

Outlook

Consistent with our prior outlook, we continue to expect our adjusted EPS in 2016, before necessary startup expenses and the impact of initial warrants for our new Amazon service, to increase by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage rate compared with 2015 adjusted EPS of $5.01.

Our view reflects the demand we are currently seeing for our services and aircraft, the benefits we expect from our fleet initiatives and debt refinancings in 2015, and the accretion we anticipate from our acquisition of Southern.

As we commence our new service for Amazon, we will incur an EPS impact for necessary startup expenses and the issuance of warrants. As a result, we now expect that our adjusted EPS in 2016 will be a few percentage points lower than our adjusted EPS in 2015.  

Given the inherent seasonality of airfreight demand, we expect the majority of our earnings in 2016 to be generated in the second half. Unlike 2015, which benefited from increased first-half demand driven by U.S. West Coast port congestion, we anticipate that results in 2016 will be more reflective of historical patterns, with approximately three-quarters of our adjusted EPS occurring in the second half.

In addition, we expect earnings per share in the second quarter of 2016 to be approximately three times the level of our first-quarter 2016 adjusted EPS of $0.31. 

For the full year, we continue to expect total block hours including Southern Air to increase more than 20% compared with 2015, with about 75% of our 2016 hours in ACMI and the balance in Charter.

Results in our Dry Leasing segment will benefit from the addition of two converted 767 freighters to our portfolio in December 2015 and February 2016, which we are also operating on a CMI basis.

Including Southern, aircraft maintenance expense in 2016 should total approximately $195 million, and depreciation is expected to total approximately $145 million. In addition, we anticipate an effective book income tax rate of approximately 32%. Core capital expenditures, excluding aircraft and engine purchases, are expected to total $50 to $60 million, mainly for spare parts for our fleet.

Conference Call

Management will host a conference call to discuss Atlas Air Worldwide’s first-quarter 2016 financial and operating results at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, May 5, 2016.

Interested parties are invited to listen to the call live over the Internet at www.atlasair.com (click on “Investor Information,” click on “Presentations” and on the link to the first-quarter call) or at the following Web address:

http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/865kmvm6

For those unable to listen to the live call, a replay will be archived on the above websites following the call. A replay will also be available through May 12 by dialing (855) 859-2056 (U.S. Toll Free) or (404) 537-3406 (from outside the U.S.) and using Access Code 93906546#.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we present certain non-GAAP financial measures to assist in the evaluation of our business performance. These non-GAAP measures include EBITDAR, as adjusted; EBITDA, as adjusted; Direct Contribution; Adjusted Net Income; Adjusted Diluted EPS; and Free Cash Flow, which exclude certain items. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the performance of the Company’s ongoing operations and in planning and forecasting future periods. We believe that these adjusted measures provide meaningful information to assist investors and analysts in understanding our financial results and assessing our prospects for future performance.

About Atlas Air Worldwide:

Atlas Air Worldwide is a leading global provider of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating services. It is the parent company of Atlas Air, Inc. (Atlas), Southern Air Holdings, Inc. (Southern Air) and Titan Aviation Holdings, Inc. (Titan), and is the majority shareholder of Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc. (Polar). Atlas Air Worldwide’s companies operate the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 747 freighter aircraft and provide customers the broadest array of 747, 777, 767, 757 and 737 aircraft for domestic, regional, and international applications.

Atlas, Southern Air, Titan and Polar offer a range of outsourced aircraft and aviation operating solutions that include ACMI service – in which customers receive an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance on a long-term basis; CMI service – in which customers receive crew, maintenance and insurance but not an aircraft; express network and airport-to-airport cargo service; cargo and passenger charters; and dry leasing of aircraft and engines.

Atlas Air Worldwide’s press releases, SEC filings and other information can be accessed through the Company’s home page, www.atlasair.com.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that reflect Atlas Air Worldwide’s current views with respect to certain current and future events and financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are and will be, as the case may be, subject to many risks, uncertainties and factors relating to the operations and business environments of Atlas Air Worldwide and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “companies”) that may cause the actual results of the companies to be materially different from any future results, express or implied, in such forward-looking statements. 

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the following: our ability to effectively operate the network service contemplated by our agreements with Amazon, including the cost and timing of securing any aircraft necessary to fulfill our agreements; our ability to obtain any shareholder approvals that may be required with respect to the equity arrangements expressed in our agreement with Amazon; the risk that the anticipated benefits of our agreements with Amazon will not be realized when expected, or at all; the possibility that Amazon may terminate its agreements with the companies; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the transactions contemplated by the agreements with Amazon; costs associated with the acquisition of Southern Air; failure to achieve expected synergies, accretion and other anticipated benefits of the transaction or to successfully integrate the Southern Air business; adverse reactions to the acquisition by employees, key customers, including DHL Express, suppliers or competitors of either Atlas Air Worldwide, Southern Air, or their subsidiaries; our ability to effectively operate the 777 platform or grow the business of Southern Air; the ability of the companies to operate pursuant to the terms of their financing facilities; the ability of the companies to obtain and maintain normal terms with vendors and service providers; the companies’ ability to maintain contracts that are critical to their operations; the ability of the companies to fund and execute their business plan; the ability of the companies to attract, motivate and/or retain key executives and associates; the ability of the companies to attract and retain customers; the continued availability of our wide-body aircraft; demand for cargo services in the markets in which the companies operate; economic conditions; the effects of any hostilities or act of war (in the Middle East or elsewhere) or any terrorist attack; labor costs and relations; financing costs; the cost and availability of war risk insurance; our ability to maintain adequate internal controls over financial reporting; aviation fuel costs; security-related costs; competitive pressures on pricing (especially from lower-cost competitors); volatility in the international currency markets; weather conditions; government legislation and regulation; consumer perceptions of the companies’ products and services; anticipated and future litigation; and other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in Atlas Air Worldwide’s reports to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

For additional information, we refer you to the risk factors set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” in the most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Form 10-Q filed by Atlas Air Worldwide with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other factors and assumptions not identified above may also affect the forward-looking statements, and these other factors and assumptions may also cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed.

Except as stated in this release, Atlas Air Worldwide is not providing guidance or estimates regarding its anticipated business and financial performance for 2016 or thereafter. 

Atlas Air Worldwide assumes no obligation to update such statements contained in this release to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such estimates other than as required by law.

1 Balance sheet debt at March 31, 2016 totaled $1,869.6 million, including the impact of $47.9 million of unamortized discount and debt issuance costs of $54.8 million.

2 The face value of our debt at March 31, 2016 totaled $1,972.2 million, compared with $2,008.1 million on December 31, 2015.

Atlas Air Worldwide uses an economic performance metric, Direct Contribution, to show the profitability of each of its segments after allocation of direct ownership costs. Atlas Air Worldwide currently has the following reportable segments: ACMI, Charter, and Dry Leasing. Each segment has different operating and economic characteristics, which are separately reviewed by our chief operating decision maker.

Direct Contribution consists of income (loss) before taxes, excluding special charges, acquisition-related expenses, nonrecurring items, gains (losses) on the disposal of aircraft, losses on the early extinguishment of debt, gains on investments, and unallocated income and expenses, net.

Direct operating and ownership costs include crew costs, maintenance, fuel, ground operations, sales costs, aircraft rent, interest expense on the portion of debt used for financing aircraft, interest income on debt securities, and aircraft depreciation.

Unallocated income and expenses, net include corporate overhead, nonaircraft depreciation, noncash expenses and income, interest expense on the portion of debt used for general corporate purposes, interest income on nondebt securities, capitalized interest, foreign exchange gains and losses, other revenue and other non-operating costs.  

1 Noncash expenses and income, net in 2016 primarily related to amortization of debt discount on convertible notes. Noncash expenses and income, net in 2015 primarily related to amortization and accretion of debt, lease and investment discounts.     

2 Special charge in 2016 primarily represented a loss on engines held for sale.

1 Free Cash Flow = Cash Flows from Operations minus Base Capital Expenditures and Capitalized Interest. 
  Base Capital Expenditures excludes purchases of aircraft.

1 Special charge in 2016 primarily represented a loss on engines held for sale.

2 Adjusted EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, loss on disposal of aircraft, special charge, charges associated with refinancing debt, acquisition-related expenses, and U.S. class action professional fees, as applicable.

3 Adjusted EBITDAR: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, aircraft rent expense, loss on disposal of aircraft, special charge, charges associated with refinancing debt, acquisition-related expenses, and U.S. class action professional fees, as applicable. 
  
 

Contacts:
Dan Loh (Investors) – (914) 701-8200
Bonnie Rodney (Media) – (914) 701-8580