DENVER, NC / ACCESSWIRE / February 14, 2022 / Air T, Inc. (NASDAQ:AIRT) is an industrious American company with a portfolio of businesses, each of which is independent yet interrelated. We seek dynamic individuals and teams to operate companies using processes that increase value over time. We believe we can apply corporate resources to help activate growth and overcome challenges.
Our core segments are overnight air cargo; aviation ground equipment manufacturing and sales; commercial jet engines and parts; and corporate and other.
Today the Company is announcing results for the fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2021:
Revenues totaled $45.4 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, a decrease of $10.4 million, or 18.6% from the prior year's comparable quarter.
Operating income was $25 thousand for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to last year's third quarter Operating income of $1.1 million.
Adjusted EBITDA* profit of $0.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to an Adjusted EBITDA* profit of $1.3 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Loss per share of $0.44 for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to income per share of $0.73 for the same quarter last year.
Total Equity increased from $14.7 million as of March 31, 2021 to $21.3 million as of December 31, 2021, an increase of $6.6 million, or 44.9%.
*Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure; see below for further explanation and reconciliation to GAAP measure.
Company Chairman and CEO Nick Swenson commented:
"Air T base businesses are improving incrementally, leading to improvements in our financial picture, including balance sheet metrics. We look forward to seeing steady growth as Covid wanes and several of our business find even better footing.
Our allocator-operator model, through which we seek to create space for dynamic management teams, will likely lead to opportunities we cannot predict or plan to make happen. The inherent power of great managers within a "complex system without a complex" is perhaps best understood in the results that emerge. Looking in the rear view mirror several years from now, we want to have more stories to tell about unpredictable growth and value creation.
Mountain Air Cargo's steady transformation under the leadership of Mike Bandalan and Team is worth watching. Their performance for their largest Customer is leading to additional responsibilities and continued growth avenues. MAC expects to add ten new routes in the Caribbean between Summer of 2021 and December 2022. Importantly for the long-term, Mike is leading with a growth mindset built on a people-first cultural foundation. We are super-encouraged by developments at MAC.
We are looking forward to moving steadily forward during 2022."
Business Segment Results
Overnight Air Cargo
This segment provides air express delivery services, substantially all for FedEx.
Revenues for this segment increased 12% to $18.2 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to $16.3 million in the prior year quarter. The increase was principally attributable to higher administrative fees and maintenance labor revenue from FedEx.
Adjusted EBITDA* for this segment was $0.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.
Aviation ground equipment manufacturing and sales ("GGS")
This segment, which includes the world's largest manufacturer of aircraft de-icing equipment, manufactures and provides mobile deicers and other specialized equipment products to passenger and cargo airlines, airports, and military and industrial customers.
Revenues for this segment totaled $15.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, down 27% versus $20.8 million in the same quarter in 2020. The decrease was primarily driven by lower sales volume of deicing trucks this quarter due to the ongoing effects of COVID-19 compared to prior year comparable quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA* for this segment was $1.5 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2021, a decrease of $2.7 million compared to the prior year quarter, due primarily to the revenue decrease noted above.
As of December 31, 2021 this segment's order backlog was $3.7 million versus $17.3 million on December 31, 2020.
Commercial Jet Engines and Parts
This segment leases commercial jet engines and aircraft; buys, sells and trades in surplus and aftermarket commercial jet engines, engine parts, airframes, and airframe parts, avionics, and other; then delivers the related documents and logistics.
Revenues for this segment totaled $11.4 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, a decrease of $6.7 million versus the previous year's third fiscal quarter. The decrease was primarily driven by the fact that Contrail had 3 asset sales with no profit margin in the prior-year quarter that did not recur in the current-year quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA* for this segment was $0.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 compared to an Adjusted EBITDA* loss of $1.5 million in the prior year's quarter.
Corporate and Other
This segment includes expenses attributable to core Corporate functions, investment research, and specialized resources that are available to business units.
This segment's Adjusted EBITDA* for the quarter ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 represented a loss of $2.0 million in each respective quarter.
*Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure; see below for further explanation and reconciliation to GAAP measures.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company uses adjusted earnings before taxes, interest, and depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA"), a non-GAAP financial measure as defined by the SEC, to evaluate the Company's financial performance. This performance measure is not defined by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and should be considered in addition to, and not in lieu of, GAAP financial measures.
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before taxes, interest, and depreciation and amortization, adjusted for specified items. The Company calculates Adjusted EBITDA by removing the impact of specific items and adding back the amounts of interest expense and depreciation and amortization to earnings before income taxes. When calculating Adjusted EBITDA, the Company does not add back depreciation expense for aircraft engines that are on lease, as the Company believes this expense matches with the corresponding revenue earned on engine leases. Depreciation expense for leased engines totaled $70.4 thousand and $1.7 million for the three months ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Management believes that Adjusted EBITDA is a useful measure of the Company's performance because it provides investors additional information about the Company's operations allowing better evaluation of underlying business performance and better period-to-period comparability. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to replace or be an alternative to operating income, the most directly comparable amounts reported under GAAP.
The table below provides a reconciliation of operating income to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
12/31/2021
12/31/2020
12/31/2021
12/31/2020
Operating income/(loss)
$
25
$
1,068
$
724
$
(2,881
)
Depreciation and amortization (excluding leased engines depreciation)
372
259
956
917
Asset impairment, restructuring or impairment charges
-
-
-
664
Loss on disposition of assets
-
5
3
1
Security issuance expenses
150
-
215
-
Adjusted EBITDA
547
1,332
1,898
(1,299
)
The following table shows the Company's Adjusted EBITDA by segment for the periods ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):
Three Months Ended
Nine Months Ended
12/31/2021
12/31/2020
12/31/2021
12/31/2020
Overnight Air Cargo
$
488
$
506
$
2,106
$
1,672
Ground Equipment Sales
1,544
4,267
3,074
7,521
Commercial Jet Engines and Parts
500
(1,466
)
2,524
(3,857
)
Corporate and Other
(1,985
)
(1,975
)
(5,806
)
(6,635
)
Adjusted EBITDA
547
1,332
1,898
(1,299
)
ABOUT AIR T, INC.
Established in 1980, Air T Inc. is a portfolio of powerful businesses and financial assets, each of which is independent yet interrelated. Its core segments are overnight air cargo, aviation ground support equipment manufacturing, and commercial aircraft asset management and logistics. We seek to expand, strengthen and diversify Air T's after-tax cash flow per share. Our goal is to build Air T's core businesses, and when appropriate, to expand into adjacent and other industries. We seek to activate growth and overcome challenges while delivering meaningful value for all stakeholders. For more information, visit www.airt.net.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain matters discussed in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions about our operations and the investments we make, including, among other things, factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K, as well as the following:
Economic conditions in the Company's markets, particularly the aviation industry;
The risk that contracts with FedEx could be terminated or adversely modified;
The risk that the number of aircraft operated for FedEx could be reduced;
The risks faced by commercial aircraft operators and maintenance, repair and overhaul companies because they are our customers.
Our engine values and lease rates, which are dependent on the status of the types of aircraft on which engines are installed, and other factors.
The Company and its customers operate in a highly regulated industry and changes in economic conditions, laws or regulations may adversely affect our ability to lease or sell our engines or aircraft.
We may experience losses and delays in connection with repossession of engines or aircraft when a lessee defaults.
The risk that GGS customers will defer or reduce significant orders for deicing and other equipment;
Mild winter weather conditions reducing the demand for deicing equipment.
The impact of any terrorist activities on United States soil or abroad;
The risk of injury or other damage arising from accidents involving the Company's overnight air cargo operations, equipment or parts sold and/or services provided;
The Company's ability to manage its cost structure for operating expenses, or unanticipated capital requirements, and match them to shifting customer service requirements and production volume levels;
The Company's ability to meet debt service covenants and to refinance existing debt obligations;
The ability of the Company and its business segments to generate sufficient cash flows from operations or through financings.
Market acceptance of the Company's commercial and military equipment and services;
Competition from other providers of similar equipment and services;
Changes in government regulation and technology;
Changes in the value of marketable securities held as investments;
Market acceptance and operational success of the Company's new aircraft asset management business and related new aircraft capital joint venture;
The risks and uncertainties related to business acquisitions (including the ability to successfully achieve anticipated benefits) inflation rates, competition, changes in technology or government regulation, debt covenants, information technology disruptions, and the impact of future terrorist activities in the United States and abroad;
Wage and product pricing inflation and our ability to procure products and fulfill orders, could negatively impact the Company's operations and financial results in a material manner; and
The length and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words like "believes," "could," "possibly," "probably," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "seek," "intend," "plan," "expect," or "consider" or the negative of these expressions or other variations, or by discussions of strategy that involves risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual transactions, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future transactions, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We base these forward-looking statements on current expectations and projections about future events and the information currently available to us. Although we believe that the assumptions for these forward-looking statements are reasonable, any of the assumptions could prove to be inaccurate. Consequently, no representation or warranty can be given that the estimates, opinions, or assumptions made in or referenced in this press release will prove to be accurate. We undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements. We caution you that the forward-looking statements in this press release are only estimates and predictions, or statements of current intent. Actual results or outcomes, or actions that we ultimately undertake, could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements due to risks, uncertainties or actual events differing from the assumptions underlying these statements. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those discussed in this press release.
