Air Transport Services Group (ATSG) has reported that revenues were up year-on-year by 71 per cent to $348.2 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2019 ending 31 March.
Omni Air International, acquired in November 2018, contributed $135.8 million to external ATSG revenues, reflected in revenues of the ACMI services segment.
Earnings from continuing operations were $22.6 million, $7 million higher than the prior period. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations increased 26 per cent to $26 million.
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations were $113.8 million, up $41.9 million, or 58 per cent.
ATSG president and chief executive officer, Joe Hete, said that Q1 revenues and earnings benefited from additional flying for the Department of Defense and other customers, and from the deployment of freighter aircraft to lease customers during 2018.
Those results, he said, provide a solid basis for continued growth in 2019 as additional Boeing 767 aircraft are converted to freighters and deployed to customers in the second half. Accordingly, ATSG is raising its Adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2019 to $450 million.
“Our acquisition of Omni Air, and recent agreements with our largest commercial customers, Amazon and DHL, add years of contracted revenue streams from aircraft leasing and from operations by our airlines and related service businesses,” Hete said.
“Our customers are focused on transport options that offer optimal combinations of reliability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency, with a particular emphasis on speed. In response, we continue to add aircraft options, including the Boeing 777 via Omni, and a converted freighter variant of the Airbus A321-200 aircraft we are developing through our joint venture with Precision.”
