Irish aircraft lessor Goshawk has said it maintained a collection rate of 77pc in 2020 on the planes leased to its dozens of airline customers despite the massive hit to travel from Covid.
Goshawk Aviation CEO Ruth Kelly said despite a challenging year the firm had reported an operating profit for the year and was "well positioned” to benefit from an anticipated recovery in travel, including as a possible consolidator in the leasing sector.
“Should suitable M&A opportunities arise, that would be on the radar,” she said.
Goshawk’s 2018 takeover of rival Sky Leasing and its 51 aircraft moved it into the top 10 of global lessors.
Citing the recovery in US domestic travel after restrictions lifted there and signs of demand in Europe, Ruth Kelly told the Irish Independent she expects a rapid bounce-back in air travel post Covid, with limited lingering impact on public attitudes once restrictions lift.
She was speaking after the Dublin-headquartered firm announced financial results for the year to December 31, 2020 showing an adjusted $30m (€25.6m) operating profit, despite massive disruptions to the sector.
The company owns 162 aircraft and manages an additional 20 craft for other owners, which are leased to 65 airlines around the world.
Goshawk’s fleet is made up of mostly narrow-body airliners under five years old, with just one aircraft currently out of lease despite significant disruptions over the past year which included some airline clients going through dramatic restructurings and bankruptcies as a result of Covid travel bans, she said.
Total lease revenue in 2020 was $763m. Net of provisioning for trade receivables, that represented 96pc of 2019’s total.
Even so, Ms Kelly said the business had worked closely with customers affected by lockdowns including working out case-by-case deals for airlines who had sought near-term rent relief at points during last year.
Seven of its aircraft across four airline customers were subject to some form of formal restructuring proceedings during the period.
Goshawk had also worked closely with its own roughly 100 lenders, in order to bring the operations through the pandemic, she said
Ms Kelly said Goshawk will come out of the pandemic with a strong balance sheet, including total available liquidity of $1.5bn held at year end, giving more than 2.5 times coverage of contractual commitments and debt maturities over the next 12 months.
The firm had total aircraft assets of $7.3bn at year end and a long-term order book of 40 aircraft – comprised solely of new technology narrow-body aircraft – scheduled to be delivered from 2023 on.
The lessor’s own debt is a mix of 60pc unsecured and 40pc secured finance, with total unencumbered assets of $4.5bn.
Goshawk is owned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) and stock market-listed NWS. CTFE is privately owned by the family of the late Hong Kong billionaire Cheng Yu-tun, and is a major shareholder in NWS.