Allegiant Travel Company (Allegiant Air) has reported the following financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2018, as well as comparisons to the prior year:

	Three Months Ended December 31,									Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Unaudited	2018			2017			Change			2018			2017			Change
Total operating revenue (millions)	$	412.1		$	379.2		8.7	%		$	1,667.4		$	1,511.2		10.3	%
Operating income (millions)	63.1			26.8			135.7			243.5			230.6			5.6
Net income (millions)	41.4			83.4			(50.4	)		161.8			198.1			(18.3	)
Diluted earnings per share	$	2.56		$	5.18		(50.6	)		$	10.00		$	12.13		(17.6	)

“I’m happy to report we had our 64^th consecutive profitable quarter,” stated Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company. “The past 18 to 24 months have been challenging as we pushed through a successful onetime changeover to an all Airbus fleet. This was a major undertaking by our team. During this period we sustained a number of one-time transition costs but still maintained among industry leading operating margins on our airline activity of 15.3 percent despite a 27 percent increase in the cost per gallon of fuel in 2018.

“And these returns were accomplished despite the added challenges of our fleet transition years. I couldn’t be more pleased with where we find ourselves today as we look forward to 2019 and beyond. We are also pleased with our EPS-based reporting approach which we started in 2018. You will see our estimates for 2019 below.

“Finally, my hat is off to our team. They not only rose up to the logistical challenge of the fleet changeover during the past 18 months, but at the same time continued to elevate our operational performance and customer service standards across the board.”

Highlights

• Currently 431 routes
     o Nearly 75 percent no competition – 90 percent of new 2018 routes no competition
  o Have identified an additional 600 routes for possible growth
• 2019 expect higher EBITDA
  o Revenue improvement from higher number of incremental seats
  o Greater efficiencies in labor and fuel consumption
  o Higher aircraft reliability will enable more flights during peak days
  o Higher number of charter opportunities versus the MD-80
• 2018 improvement in operations
  o Controllable completion – 99.7 percent, among best in industry
  o Improved operations – over $10 million in cost savings
  o On time arrival 77 percent, up nearly four percentage points over 2017
• Co-brand credit card
  o Active accounts increased by approximately 60 percent versus 2017
  o Signed marketing agreement with Minor League Baseball participating clubs
• 2019 high yield bond refinancing
  o $450 million term loan
  o Five year duration
  o Expected to close in early February

Shareholder returns

• 2018 shareholder returns
  o Returned $45 million in dividends in 2018
  o Will pay dividends of $0.70 per share on March 14, 2019 to shareholders of record as of March 1, 2019
  o $100 million in share repurchase authority

2019 outlook

• Aircraft
  o Expect to add seventeen Airbus aircraft by the end of the year
  o Have now terminated forward capital leases for eight aircraft due to extensive delivery delays
• Scheduled and system ASM growth
  o First quarter expected to grow between four and six percent vs last year
  o Expect first quarter ASM growth to be the lowest of the year
  o Expect second quarter ASM growth to be the highest of the year due to later Easter
• Sunseeker Resort financing
  o Expect $175 million of the estimated $420 millionSunseeker Resort construction cost
  o Provided by a well-known institutional asset manager
  o 2/3 of the loan is expected to be non-recourse to Allegiant Travel Company
  o Expect financing to close by the end of the first quarter 2019

Aircraft fleet plan by end of period
Aircraft – (seats per AC)	YE18		1Q19		2Q19		3Q19		YE19
A319 (156 seats)	32		37		37		38		38
A320 (177/186 seats)	44		46		51		53		55
Total	76		83		88		91		93

Aircraft listed in table above include only in-service aircraft and future aircraft under contract (subject to change)

Previously the company announced 16 new routes and plans to establish a two-aircraft base at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The company also announced service to two new cities – Nashville, Tennessee and Savannah, Georgia.

Above Copyright Photo (all others by the airline): Allegiant Air Airbus A320-216 N273NV (msn 3076) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 945314.

Allegiant aircraft slide show:

x