Aviation leasing company AerCap has reported financial results for the fourth quarter of 2021 ended December 31. With the completion of the GECAS acquisition on November 1, 2021, AerCap has become an industry leader across multiple areas of aviation leasing including: commercial aircraft, engines and helicopters.
AerCap executed 230 transactions in the fourth-quarter 2021, including 158 lease agreements, 42 purchases and 30 sales. The company completed the offering of US$21 billion of senior unsecured notes in October 2021 and a US$2 billion secured institutional term loan in November 2021 to finance the GECAS acquisition with an average coupon of approximately 2.6% and an average tenor of 7.1 years.
Fourth-quarter cash flow from operating activities was US$1.7 billion, more than 2.5-times higher than the fourth quarter of 2020. AerCap continued to see significant improvements in cash collections, trade receivables and deferral requests. Special items in the fourth quarter of 2021 included US$139 million (US$122 million after-tax) of expenses related to the GECAS transaction.
Aengus Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of AerCap, said: “2021 was a milestone year for AerCap as we closed the GECAS transaction on November 1st. This transaction significantly enhanced and diversified our fleet, broadened our customer base and geographic reach, increased our product offering and added outstanding new talent – the combination of which we expect to lead to increased revenues, earnings and cash flows in the future. Notwithstanding the Ukraine invasion and the broad sanctions imposed against Russia, where we had approximately 5% of our fleet, we believe the continued recovery in air travel in many parts of the world puts AerCap on a positive trajectory heading into 2022.” (£1.00 = US$1.31 at time of publication)
