Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. has announced its third quarter 2022 net income of $60.1 million, or $1.79 per diluted share, compared with net income of $119.5 million, or $3.91 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2021.

On an adjusted basis, EBITDA totaled $194.0 million in the third quarter this year compared with $280.5 million in the third quarter of 2021. Adjusted net income in the third quarter of 2022 totaled $78.8 million, or $2.69 per diluted share, compared with $145.4 million, or $4.88 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2021.

“We continued to see strong demand for our services during the third quarter,” said Atlas Air Worldwide President and Chief Executive Officer John W. Dietrich. “We were also pleased to announce a long-term ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) agreement under which all four of our new and incoming 777-200 freighters are placed with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company SA.”

Mr. Dietrich continued: “Notwithstanding this strong demand, our third-quarter performance was impacted by operational disruptions related to an increase in COVID-19 cases, particularly in July and August, as well as the effects of Hurricane Ian at the end of the quarter. I would like to thank our Atlas team for working together through these challenges on behalf of our customers.”

Transaction Update

As previously announced, on August 4, 2022, Atlas Air Worldwide entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc., together with investment affiliates of J.F. Lehman & Company, LLC and Hill City Capital LP. In light of this pending acquisition, Atlas Air Worldwide will not hold an earnings conference call or provide forward-looking guidance. In connection with the proposed transaction, the Company filed a definitive proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will hold a related special meeting of shareholders on November 29, 2022.

The Company continues to expect to complete this transaction in the fourth quarter 2022 or the first quarter 2023.

Third Quarter Results

Revenue grew to $1.1 billion in the third quarter of 2022 compared with $1.0 billion in the prior-year quarter. Volumes in the third quarter of 2022 totaled 79,274 block hours compared with 90,363 in the third quarter of 2021.

Higher Airline Operations revenue primarily reflected an increase in the average rate per block hour, partially offset by a reduction in block hours flown. The higher average rate per block hour was primarily due to higher fuel prices and higher yields (net of fuel), including the impact of new and extended long-term contracts and increased cargo flying for the AMC. Block hours decreased primarily due to operational disruptions related to an increase in COVID-19 cases (which were significantly higher in July and August), our operation of fewer passenger flights and the effects of Hurricane Ian. The increase in cases and effects of the hurricane adversely impacted our crew availability and our ability to position them due to the widespread and well-publicized cancellations of commercial passenger flights.

Airline Operations segment contribution decreased during the quarter primarily due to increased pilot costs related to our new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), higher overtime pay related to an increase in COVID-19 cases (which were significantly higher in July and August), as well as higher premium pay for pilots operating in certain areas significantly impacted by COVID-19. Segment contribution was also adversely impacted by lower aircraft utilization and higher crew travel costs related to the operational disruptions described in the segment revenue discussion above, as well as higher commercial passenger airfares. In addition, segment contribution was negatively impacted by higher heavy maintenance expense and a decrease in AMC passenger flying. These items were partially offset by higher yields (net of fuel), primarily driven by increased cargo flying for the AMC and the impact of new and extended long-term contracts.

In Dry Leasing, segment revenue in the third quarter of 2022 was relatively unchanged compared with the prior-year period. Higher segment contribution was primarily due to lower interest expense related to the scheduled repayment of debt.

Unallocated income and expenses, net, decreased during the quarter primarily due to a $15.2 million adjustment to paid time-off benefits recorded in 2021 related to our new CBA, lower interest expense related to our adoption of the amended accounting guidance for convertible notes and lower professional fees.

Reported earnings in the third quarter of 2022 included an effective income tax rate of 23.2%. On an adjusted basis, our results reflected an effective income tax rate of 22.6%.

Nine-Month Results

For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, our reported net income totaled $229.9 million, or $6.82 per diluted share, compared with net income of $316.6 million, or $10.52 per diluted share, in the prior-year period (which included $40.9 million, $31.9 million after tax, of CARES Act grant income).

On an adjusted basis, EBITDA totaled $612.4 million in the first nine months of 2022 compared with $705.6 million in the first nine months of 2021. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, adjusted net income totaled $264.9 million, or $9.04 per diluted share, compared with $339.4 million, or $11.44 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2021.

 Fleet

We took delivery of the first two of our four new 747-8Fs in May and October 2022. Based on the updated timeline provided by Boeing, the remaining two aircraft are anticipated to be delivered during the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. As announced in February 2022, all four of these aircraft are placed with customers under long-term agreements.

As announced in September 2022, all four of our new and incoming 777-200LRFs have been placed with MSC under a long-term ACMI contract. Reflecting Boeing’s current expectations, we anticipate the first aircraft to be delivered late in the fourth quarter of this year and three more throughout 2023.

As previously disclosed, we are purchasing five of our existing 747-400Fs at the end of their leases during the course of this year, three of which were acquired between March and August 2022. We expect to complete the remaining two aircraft acquisitions in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Cash

At September 30, 2022, our cash, including cash equivalents and restricted cash, totaled $476.0 million compared with $921.0 million at December 31, 2021.

The change in position resulted from cash used for investing and financing activities, including $290.1 million for pre-delivery payments for our new aircraft (of which $120.1 million related to a final payment for a 747-8F, and in early October, we completed the acquisition of that aircraft and received financing proceeds of $140.0 million), $216.6 million related to the settlement of our 2015 Convertible Notes and $100.0 million for our accelerated share repurchase program, partially offset by cash provided by operating activities.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our financial statements presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, we present certain non-GAAP financial measures to assist in the evaluation of our business performance. These non-GAAP measures include Adjusted EBITDA; Adjusted net income; Adjusted Diluted EPS; Adjusted effective tax rate; and Free Cash Flow, which exclude certain noncash income and expenses, and items impacting year-over-year comparisons of our results. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for Net income; Diluted EPS; Effective tax rate; and Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities, which are the most directly comparable measures of performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, respectively.

Our management uses these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing the performance of the company’s ongoing operations and in planning and forecasting future periods. We believe that these adjusted measures, when considered together with the corresponding U.S. GAAP financial measures and the reconciliations to those measures, provide meaningful supplemental information to assist investors and analysts in understanding our financial results and assessing our prospects for future performance. For example:

• Adjusted EBITDA; Adjusted net income; and Adjusted Diluted EPS provide a more comparable basis to analyze operating results and earnings and are measures commonly used by shareholders to measure our performance. In addition, management’s incentive compensation is determined, in part, by using Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net income.
• Adjusted effective tax rate provides insight into the tax effects of our ongoing business operations.
• Free Cash Flow helps investors assess our ability, over the long term, to create value for our shareholders as it represents cash available to execute our capital allocation strategy.

Top Copyright Photo: Atlas Air Boeing 747-8F N860GT (msn 67147) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 957571.

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