31-Jan-2019 8:26 AM

Allegiant Travel Company Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Financial results

Direct News Source

Fourth quarter 2018 Fully Diluted Earnings per Share of $2.56

Full year 2018 Fully Diluted Earnings per Share of $10.00 64th consecutive profitable quarter

Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) today 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 64th 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

Guidance, subject to revision

Full year 2019 guidance	Current
Fuel cost per gallon	$2.10
Available seat miles (ASMs) / gallon	80.0 to 82.0

Interest expense (millions)	$70 to $80
Tax rate	24 to 25%
Share count (millions)		15.9
Earnings per share	$13.25 to $14.75

System ASMs - year over year change	7 to 9%
Scheduled service ASMs - year over year change	7 to 9%

Depreciation expense (millions)	$150 to $160
Airline operating CASM excluding fuel - year over year change	(3.5) to (1.5)%
Non airline operating income (millions)	($17) to ($12)

Airline CAPEX - full year 2019
Capital expenditures (millions)	$425 to 435
Capitalized Airbus deferred heavy maintenance (millions) *	$95 to 115

Sunseeker CAPEX
Project to date (millions)	$51
Expected 2019 spend (millions)	$250 to 300
Total project spend remaining **	$420

Other CAPEX - full year 2019***
Capital expenditures (millions)	$15 to 20

* - Not included in capital expenditure total
** - Of the total remaining capex, expect to receive $175m in third party financing as the last funds in the project, of which 2/3 is expected to be non-recourse to Allegiant Travel Company
*** - Includes G4 Complete Entertainment and TeeSnap

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)

Non-airline business

For greater transparency around the non-airline portion of the business, we are providing what we believe is a better measure of controllable airline costs that excludes costs driven by non-airline entities as well as their revenue contribution.

Airline-only CASM, excluding fuel and write down	Twelve Months Ended December 31,
	2018		2017		Change
CASM (cents)	9.56		9.41		1.6	%
Adjusted for:
Aircraft fuel	(2.99	)	(2.52	)	18.7
Write down of MD-80 fleet	-		(0.26	)	(100.0	)
Non-airline	(0.13	)	(0.07	)	85.7
Airline-only CASM, excluding fuel and write down	6.44		6.56		(1.8	)%

Note: CASM is defined as operating expense per available seat mile.


Airline-only operating margin, excluding write down (millions)	Twelve Months Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			Change**
Total company operating income (GAAP)	$	243.5		$	230.6		5.6
Adjusted for:
Write down of MD-80 fleet	-			35.3			(100.0	)
Non-airline operating loss	10.4			5.7			82.5
Airline-only operating income*	$	253.9		$	271.6		(6.5	)

Total company revenue (GAAP)	$	1,667.4		$	1,511.2		10.3
Adjusted for:
Non-airline revenue	(8.3		)	(4.1		)	102.4
Airline-only revenue*	$	1,659.1		$	1,507.1		10.1

Airline-only operating margin*	15.3		%	18.0		%	(2.7	)

*Denotes non-GAAP figure. We are adjusting for non-airline activities in order to allow investors to better understand and analyze our principal operating performance for the periods shown.
**Except airline-only operating margin, which is percentage point change.

Components of non-airline

Teesnap - golf course management solution
o Currently manage over 590 golf courses
o Expect to manage over 800 golf courses in 2019
G4 Complete Entertainment - family entertainment centers
o Expect to have two stores open in the first half of 2019
Sunseeker Resorts - operating costs for Sunseeker Resort development as well as Kingsway golf course
o Golf course acquired in 2018
o Resort expected to be open in 2020
♦ Expect to include 500 hotel rooms, 189 long stay suites, restaurants, bars and other amenities

Allegiant Travel Company
Consolidated Statements of Income
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)

	Three Months Ended December 31,								Percent
		2018				2017			change
OPERATING REVENUE:
Passenger revenue (1)	$		376,258		$		341,644		10.1
Third party products		14,015				13,313			5.3
Fixed fee contract revenue		17,285				14,588			18.5
Other revenue		4,556				9,609			(52.6	)
Total operating revenue		412,114				379,154			8.7
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Aircraft fuel		103,808				92,863			11.8
Salary and benefits		101,578				94,291			7.7
Station operations		38,754				34,602			12.0
Maintenance and repairs		23,151				25,870			(10.5	)
Depreciation and amortization		36,710				29,142			26.0
Sales and marketing		19,290				15,967			20.8
Aircraft lease rentals		101				-			NM
Other		25,634				24,402			5.0
Special charge		-				35,253			NM
Total operating expense		349,026				352,390			(1.0	)
OPERATING INCOME		63,088				26,764			135.7
OTHER (INCOME) EXPENSE:
Interest expense		13,574				11,659			16.4
Interest income		(2,967		)		(1,616		)	83.6
Other, net		12				(305		)	(103.9	)
Total other expense		10,619				9,738			9.0
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES		52,469				17,026			208.2
PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES		11,022				(66,350		)	(116.6	)
NET INCOME	$		41,447		$		83,376		(50.3	)
Earnings per share to common shareholders (2):
Basic	$	2.56			$	5.18			(50.6	)
Diluted	$	2.56			$	5.18			(50.6	)
Weighted average shares outstanding used in computing earnings per share to common shareholders (2):
Basic		15,976				15,868			0.7
Diluted		15,989				15,879			0.7

NM - Not meaningful
(1) Passenger revenue previously reported as Scheduled service revenue and Ancillary air-related revenue.
(2) The Company's unvested restricted stock awards are considered participating securities as they receive non-forfeitable rights to cash dividends at the same rate as common stock. The Basic and Diluted earnings per share calculations for the periods presented reflect the two-class method mandated by ASC Topic 260, "Earnings Per Share." The two-class method adjusts both the net income and the shares used in the calculation. Application of the two-class method did not have a significant impact on the Basic and Diluted earnings per share for the periods presented.

Allegiant Travel Company
Operating Statistics
(Unaudited)

	Three Months Ended December 31,						Percent
	2018			2017			change (1)
OPERATING STATISTICS
Total system statistics:
Passengers	3,239,286			3,077,039			5.3
Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) (thousands)	2,898,303			2,766,503			4.8
Available seat miles (ASMs) (thousands)	3,605,069			3,430,711			5.1
Load factor	80.4		%	80.6		%	(0.2	)
Operating expense per ASM (CASM) (cents)	9.68			10.27			(5.7	)
Fuel expense per ASM (cents)	2.88			2.71			6.3
Operating CASM, excluding fuel (cents)	6.80			7.56			(10.1	)
ASMs per gallon of fuel	81.4			75.4			8.0
Departures	24,300			23,322			4.2
Block hours	55,285			53,224			3.9
Average stage length (miles)	866			872			(0.7	)
Average number of operating aircraft during period	86.6			89.3			(3.0	)
Average block hours per aircraft per day	6.9			6.5			6.2
Full-time equivalent employees at end of period	3,901			3,752			4.0
Fuel gallons consumed (thousands)	44,299			45,509			(2.7	)
Average fuel cost per gallon	$	2.34		$	2.04		14.7
Scheduled service statistics:
Passengers	3,183,524			3,027,401			5.2
Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) (thousands)	2,846,246			2,717,524			4.7
Available seat miles (ASMs) (thousands)	3,457,044			3,284,429			5.3
Load factor	82.3		%	82.7		%	(0.4	)
Departures	23,017			22,077			4.3
Block hours	52,814			50,764			4.0
Total passenger revenue per ASM (TRASM) (cents) (2)	11.29			10.81			4.4
Average fare - scheduled service (3)	$	71.23		$	66.96		6.4
Average fare - air-related charges (3)	$	46.96		$	45.89		2.3
Average fare - third party products	$	4.40		$	4.40		-
Average fare - total	$	122.59		$	117.25		4.6
Average stage length (miles)	877			881			(0.5	)
Fuel gallons consumed (thousands)	42,346			43,392			(2.4	)
Average fuel cost per gallon	$	2.33		$	2.02		15.3
Percent of sales through website during period	93.8		%	93.9		%	(0.1	)

(1) Except load factor and percent of sales through website, which is percentage point change.
(2) Various components of this measurement do not have a direct correlation to ASMs. These figures are provided on a per ASM basis to facilitate comparison with airlines reporting revenues on a per ASM basis. The 2017 figure reflected has been adjusted from previously reported as a result of recast of revenue in accordance with revenue recognition accounting rules adopted by us as of January 1, 2018.
(3) Reflects division of passenger revenue between scheduled service and air-related charges in Company's booking path.

Allegiant Travel Company
Consolidated Statements of Income
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
(Unaudited)

	Twelve Months Ended December 31,								Percent
		2018				2017			change
OPERATING REVENUE:
Passenger Revenue (1)	$		1,533,701		$		1,372,037		11.8
Third party products		58,060				52,707			10.2
Fixed fee contract revenue		50,286				48,708			3.2
Other revenue		25,400				37,751			(32.7	)
Total operating revenue		1,667,447				1,511,203			10.3
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Aircraft fuel		445,814				343,333			29.8
Salary and benefits		413,892				371,599			11.4
Station operations		161,019				142,581			12.9
Maintenance and repairs		99,015				113,481			(12.7	)
Depreciation and amortization		129,351				121,713			6.3
Sales and marketing		73,514				56,675			29.7
Aircraft lease rentals		868				3,098			(72.0	)
Other		100,515				92,840			8.3
Special charge		-				35,253			NM
Total operating expense		1,423,988				1,280,573			11.2
OPERATING INCOME		243,459				230,630			5.6
OTHER (INCOME) EXPENSE:
Interest expense		53,762				38,990			37.9
Interest income		(9,226		)		(5,808		)	58.8
Other, net		(395		)		(1,559		)	(74.7	)
Total other expense		44,141				31,623			39.6
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES		199,318				199,007			0.2
PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES		37,516				859			NM
NET INCOME	$		161,802		$		198,148		(18.3	)
Earnings per share to common shareholders (2):
Basic	$	10.02			$	12.14			(17.5	)
Diluted	$	10.00			$	12.13			(17.6	)
Weighted average shares outstanding used in computing earnings per share to common shareholders (2):
Basic		15,941				16,073			(0.8	)
Diluted		15,967				16,095			(0.8	)

Allegiant Travel Company
Operating Statistics
(Unaudited)

	Twelve Months Ended December 31,						Percent
	2018			2017			change (1)
OPERATING STATISTICS
Total system statistics:
Passengers	13,750,199			12,310,122			11.7
Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) (thousands)	12,307,247			11,106,772			10.8
Available seat miles (ASMs) (thousands)	14,899,874			13,612,003			9.5
Load factor	82.6		%	81.6		%	1.0
Operating expense per ASM (CASM) (cents)	9.56			9.41			1.6
Fuel expense per ASM (cents)	2.99			2.52			18.7
Operating CASM, excluding fuel (cents)	6.57			6.89			(4.6	)
ASMs per gallon of fuel	77.8			73.0			6.6
Departures	101,212			93,061			8.8
Block hours	230,123			212,405			8.3
Average stage length (miles)	868			870			(0.2	)
Average number of operating aircraft during period	91.0			87.3			4.2
Average block hours per aircraft per day	6.9			6.7			3.0
Full-time equivalent employees at end of period	3,901			3,752			4.0
Fuel gallons consumed (thousands)	191,471			186,563			2.6
Average fuel cost per gallon	$	2.33		$	1.84		26.6
Scheduled service statistics:
Passengers	13,606,103			12,138,146			12.1
Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) (thousands)	12,145,601			10,901,161			11.4
Available seat miles (ASMs) (thousands)	14,340,674			13,031,824			10.0
Load factor	84.7		%	83.7		%	1.0
Departures	96,554			88,432			9.2
Block hours	220,760			202,752			8.9
Total passenger revenue per ASM (TRASM) (cents) (2)	11.10			10.93			1.6
Average fare - scheduled service (3)	$	67.01		$	67.90		(1.3	)
Average fare - air-related charges (3)	$	45.71		$	45.14		1.3
Average fare - third party products	$	4.27		$	4.34		(1.6	)
Average fare - total	$	116.99		$	117.38		(0.3	)
Average stage length (miles)	875			876			(0.1	)
Fuel gallons consumed (thousands)	183,798			178,298			3.1
Average fuel cost per gallon	$	2.32		$	1.83		26.8
Percent of sales through website during period	93.8		%	94.0		%	(0.2	)

Summary Balance Sheet

(millions)	12/31/2018		12/31/2017		Change
	(unaudited)
Unrestricted cash
Cash and cash equivalents	$	81.5	$	59.4	37.2	%
Short-term investments	314.5		352.7		(10.8	)
Long-term investments	51.5		78.6		(34.5	)
Total unrestricted cash and investments	447.5		490.7		(8.8	)
Debt
Current maturities of long-term debt and capital lease obligations, net of related costs	580.3		214.8		170.2
Long-term debt and capital lease obligations, net of current maturities and related costs	691.4		950.1		(27.2	)
Total debt	1,271.7		1,164.9		9.2
Total Allegiant Travel Company shareholders' equity	$	690.3	$	553.3	24.8	%

Summary Cash Flow

	Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Unaudited (millions)	2018		2017		Change
Cash provided by operating activities	$	356.5	$	390.7	(8.8	)%
Purchase of property and equipment, including capitalized interest	334.8		580.2		(42.3	)
Repurchase of common stock	3.7		90.5		(95.9	)
Cash dividends paid to shareholders	45.2		45.7		(1.1	)
Proceeds from the issuance of long-term debt	211.2		497.5		(57.5	)
Principal payments on long-term debt & capital lease obligations	$	232.2	$	138.9	67.2	%

EPS Calculation

The following table sets forth the computation of net income per share, on a basic and diluted basis, for the periods indicated (share count and dollar amounts other than per-share amounts in table are in thousands):

	Three Months Ended December 31,						Twelve Months Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2018			2017
Basic:
Net income	$	41,447		$	83,376		$	161,802		$	198,148
Less net income allocated to participating securities	(504		)	(1,102		)	(2,106		)	(2,965		)
Net income attributable to common stock	$	40,943		$	82,274		$	159,696		$	195,183
Earnings per share, basic	$	2.56		$	5.18		$	10.02		$	12.14
Weighted-average shares outstanding	15,976			15,868			15,941			16,073
Diluted:
Net income	$	41,447		$	83,376		$	161,802		$	198,148
Less net income allocated to participating securities	(503		)	(1,102		)	(2,104		)	(2,962		)
Net income attributable to common stock	$	40,944		$	82,274		$	159,698		$	195,186
Earnings per share, diluted	$	2.56		$	5.18		$	10.00		$	12.13
Weighted-average shares outstanding	15,976			15,868			15,941			16,073
Dilutive effect of stock options and restricted stock	29			60			53			74
Adjusted weighted-average shares outstanding under treasury stock method	16,005			15,928			15,994			16,147
Participating securities excluded under two-class method	(16		)	(49		)	(27		)	(52		)
Adjusted weighted-average shares outstanding under two-class method	15,989			15,879			15,967			16,095

Non-GAAP Presentation

Airline-only operating income excluding write down, airline-only revenue and airline-only operating margin excluding write down all eliminate non-airline revenue and expenses, and the effect of the non-cash impairment charge for the accelerated retirement of the MD-80 fleet in 2017, which are not reflective of our principal operating performance. As such, all of these are non-GAAP financial measures.

The SEC has adopted rules (Regulation G) regulating the use of non-GAAP financial measures. Because of our use of non-GAAP financial measures in this press release to supplement our consolidated financial statements presented on a GAAP basis, Regulation G requires us to include in this press release a presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP measure, which is operating income and total revenue. Our utilization of non-GAAP measurements is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for operating income or other measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Neither operating income, total revenue, or operating margin less non-airline items and write down are GAAP measurements, and our use of these measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies in the airline and travel industry.

This press release was sourced from Allegiant Air on 30-Jan-2019.