Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), one of the largest aircraft leasing companies in the world, has reported a total revenue of $984.1 million for the nine-month period ended September 30, down 9.5 per cent over $1.08 billion last year.

 

Announcing the results for the third quarter, DAE said its net income for the period fell to $167.3 million from $260.5 million in 2019. Its pre-tax profit margin was put at 18% over 2019 figures of 26%.

 

Commenting on the results, CEO Firoz Tarapore said DAE's the third quarter was characterized by excellent new business origination, strong capitalization, robust liquidity and continuing efforts to assist its clients in this difficult operating environment.

 

"During Q3 2020, we signed agreements to acquire 31 aircraft with a total value of approximately $1.1 billion, of which approximately $0.2 billion was booked in Q3 2020. The remainder will be booked in Q4 2020 and 2021," he noted.

 

Tarapore said throughout the quarter, DAE maintained robust liquidity and ended this period with available liquidity of $2.1 billion after repaying a $430 million bond in August. 

"Furthermore, we ended the quarter with strong capital levels – our Net Debt-to-Equity ratio was below 2.5x. Our strong financial condition and our disciplined risk management practices facilitated confirmation of our investment grade ratings from Moody’s (Baa3) and Fitch (BBB-)," he added.

 

According to him, DAE will continue to work with its customers on a case-by-case basis to provide a range of solutions that create value for both clients and for DAE. 

 

"As of September 30, 2020, we have provided the following two broad types of assistance to our clients: rent deferral and lease amendments," he noted. 

 

On rent deferral, Tarapore said DAE had executed deferral relief packages incorporating lease extensions and other lease value enhancements with 21 customers. 

 

The total value of these deferral relief packages is $155 million or 13% of Trailing Twelve Months lease revenue. Of the total deferrals, $110 million has been incurred and $45 million relates to future periods. $20 million has been repaid and 4 customers have repaid in full, he stated.

 

For lease amendments, he said DAE entered into various lease amendments principally involving near-term relief in exchange for lease extensions and other lease value enhancements with a further 12 customers. 

 

The total value of these amendments is $84 million or 7% of Trailing Twelve Months lease revenue, stated Tarapore.  

 

"During Q3 2020, our cash collection rate increased to 77% from 69% in Q2 2020. For the nine months ended September 30, 2020 our cash collection rate is 80%," he added.-TradeArabia News Service