Air Partner’s full-year profit for the year ended January 31 increased to £11.6m from £4.2m, a gain of 176%, according to its audited financials released this morning in London. It had provided guidance to the news in February. Gross transaction value increased 16% to £274.8 million.
Mark Briffa, the CEO commented, “Last year was a record year for Air Partner, as our proven ability to partner with governments and global corporations enabled the group to play a vital role in evacuations, repatriations and the provision of PPE in the face of the global pandemic. I am very proud of the hard work, resilience and bravery of our employees.”
He continued, “I was also pleased to see our diversification strategy has come to the fore, as we provided customers with solutions that combined our expertise in Charter and Safety & Security in Asia, America, and Europe.”
| January 2021 | January 2020 | Change % | |
| Gross Transaction Value | £274.8m | £236.8m | 16.0% |
| Revenue | £71.2m | £66.7m | 6.7% |
| Gross profit | £44.9m | £34.2m | 31.3% |
| Underlying* profit before tax (PBT) | £11.6m | £4.2m | 176.2% |
| Statutory profit before tax | £8.4m | £0.9m | 833.3% |
| Net cash/(debt) (non-JetCard cash less bank debt) | £9.9m | (£6.9m) | 243.5% |
| JetCard Cash | £17.8m | £16.7m | 6.6% |
| Underlying* continuing basic EPS (pence) | 14.2p | 6.4p | 121.9% |
| Basic continuing EPS (pence) | 9.4p | 0.6p | 1467.7% |
| Final dividend (pence) | 1.6p | 0.0p | – |
| Total dividend (pence) | 2.4p | 1.8p | 33.3% |
Jet card sales in the financial year increased 9.4%. Specifically, the U.S. Private Jets division performed well, despite the pandemic, as HNWIs traveled for leisure. On the flip side, it was a “difficult period” for private jets in UK and Europe due to ongoing travel restrictions.
Briffa noted, “We have started the new financial year ahead of expectations, with our organic investments in the U.S. continuing to drive growth in this important market. Looking ahead, I am excited about the opening up of the aviation sector and believe our Private Jets and Safety & Security offerings are especially well placed to benefit from the re-opening of skies and airports.”
The company said it’s enjoying a “strong start to the current year with Q1 performance ahead of management’s expectations.” Business levels for Q2 also expected to be ahead of management’s original forecast, subject to government restrictions being lifted.
While freight activities continue to support the fight against COVID-19, delivering test kits and vaccine raw materials, the U.S. charter business continues to “trade strongly.” Jet card sales and deposits in both the U.K. and the U.S. are up, the company said.
Gert Zonneveld, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity said: “The group is well placed to benefit from the long-term growth trends in aviation. Its Charter and Safety & Security (S&S) divisions will likely perform well as the group emerges from the pandemic and, supported by a strong balance sheet, it will likely continue to diversify its revenue streams and aviation services portfolio in the coming years, and increase its revenue visibility. We reiterate our Buy recommendation with a price target of 100p.”
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