25th Feb 2025 11:13
(Alliance News) - Avation PLC on Tuesday said it is considering a move to the Equity Shares (Commercial Companies) category of the London Stock Exchange, and reported a widened loss for the first six months of its financial year.
The Singapore-based aircraft leasing company said the move from the Transition Category of the UK Financial Conduct Authority's Official List and London's Main Market would "further enhance Avation's visibility and access to capital markets".
Further announcements on the potential move will be made "in due course", Avation said.
The firm's pretax loss widened to USD9.8 million during the six months that ended December 31, from USD9.6 million the year before. Total income, on the other hand, grew 24% to USD55.4 million from USD44.7 million.
The disparity was driven by a swing to loss on aircraft purchase rights and pre-delivery aircraft deposits paid, as it reported a loss of USD15.4 million for the six-month period from a USD2.2 million gain last year.
Avation swung to earnings per share of 1.23 US cents, from a loss of 12.42 cents per share last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 45% to USD55.6 million from USD38.3 million, demonstrating "enhanced cash generation".
It paid 0.63 cents per share in dividends for the first half of its financial year, compared to none a year prior.
During the six-month period, Avation has "generated improvements in revenue, Ebitda and operating profit, sold an aircraft at profit, added to liquidity and continued to reduce leverage," said Executive Chair Jeff Chatfield.
"These are pleasing results and show that the company has fully overcome the challenges created by the impact of the Covid pandemic on our business. We may now look forward with confidence to the future, having established a strong platform for a return to fleet growth."
Avation also on Tuesday announced its acquisition of an Airbus A320 on lease to Etihad Airlines, for an undisclosed amount, which is expected to complete in March.
The average remaining lease term for the company's fleet was 4.2 years at December 31.
Chatfield continued: "We note that long [original equipment manufacturer] backlogs, supply chain issues and delays to new aircraft deliveries have created an environment where airlines are keen to extend existing aircraft leases, and aircraft coming off-lease are in demand.
"We have an ATR 72-600 lease expiring next month and we expect to complete the transition of this aircraft to a new lessee quickly. Our next lease expiries are for three ATR 72-600 aircraft in early 2026. Our marketing team are seeing high levels of interest in the market for these aircraft and we are confident that we will be able to re-lease them at healthy lease rates."
Shares in Avation were down 2.0% at 142.12 pence in London on Tuesday morning, giving it a market capitalisation of GBP95.0 million. The stock has risen 28% over the last twelve months, but has fallen 45% in the last five years.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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