Dubai Aerospace Enterprise reports $197.1m first half 2020 net profit

Dubai: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd on Wednesday reported a net income of $197.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020.

The company reported a total revenue of $672.6 million in the firt half of 2020 compared to $735.2 million in the same period last year.

“The reported net income in H1 2020 was lower attributable primarily to 23 fewer aircraft in the owned aircraft portfolio, fewer asset sales resulting in lower gains on sale of assets, reduced finance income, and higher provisions for trade receivables offset by lower interest expense, said Firoz Tarapore, Chief Executive Officer of DAE.

DAE’s pre-tax margin was at 20 per cent in the first half of 2020 compared to 29 per cent reported in the first half of 2019. Pre-tax return on equity was at 8.9 per cent down from 12.6 per cent reported in the same period last year.

The company’s net debt-to-equity was 2.51 times at the close of the first half of 2020 compared to 2.64 times at year-end 2019. Unsecured debt as a percentage of total debt remained unchanged at 62 per cent compared to year-end 2019.

Robust liquidity

DAE reported available liquidity of $2.81 billion compared to $2.4 billion at year-end 2019. Fleet utilization was at 99.2 per cent in H1, 2020, compared to 99.3 per cent in the same period in 2019.

“Our financial results for the first half of 2020 were characterized by excellent and abundant liquidity, strengthening balance sheet and lower reported profitability,” said Tarapore.

“As of June 30, 2020, we had $2.8 billion of cash and available liquidity. During the first half of the year, we repurchased $187 million of our bonds and have $229 million of remaining repurchase authorisation.”