A $3.8m gain on trading aircraft accounts for the outperformance, a point worth noting given the company has been able to accelerate the ramp up of its fleet from 29 to 38 aircraft in the 12 month trading period and offload aircraft above book value too. In fact, a revaluation of the fleet of mainly narrow body commercial jets and turboprop aircraft, including 24 ATR 72’s, five Fokker 100s and nine Airbus A321s and A320s, led to a below the line US$29.4m valuation uplift in the fleet to US$725m.
Another key take for me is that the company now has contracted revenues of US$95m for the current financial year to end June 2017, having ramped up fleet assets by two thirds in the 12 month period, most of which occurred in the second half. So, it’s worth looking at the quality of the airlines that Avation has lease agreements with given that it has net debt of $567m secured on the planes leased out.