SkyWest, Inc. Announces Third Quarter 2019 Profit
Third Quarter Highlights:
-
$1.79 earnings per diluted share, up 14% from $1.57 in Q3 2018
-
Pre-tax income of $119 million, up from $110 million in Q3 2018; net income of $91 million, up from $83 million in Q3 2018
-
Five new E175 aircraft scheduled for delivery in Q4 2019 under a previously announced agreement
SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) ("SkyWest") today reported financial and operating results for Q3 2019, including net income of $91 million, or $1.79 per diluted share, compared to net income of $83 million, or $1.57 per diluted share, for Q3 2018. Earnings per diluted share increased 14% in Q3 2019 from Q3 2018, primarily due to SkyWest's ongoing fleet transition. SkyWest has added 13 new E175 aircraft and 11 new CRJ900 aircraft since Q3 2018 and reduced aircraft ownership costs through early lease buyouts on 52 aircraft executed in 2019.
Commenting on the results, Chip Childs, Chief Executive Officer and President of SkyWest, said "We were pleased to deliver another solid quarter as we continue executing our fleet strategy and remain positioned for future opportunity based on strong demand for our product. I want to thank our SkyWest professionals for their excellent work during the quarter."
Financial Highlights
Revenue was $760 million in Q3 2019, down from $829 million in Q3 2018 due to the sale of
ExpressJet Airlines ("ExpressJet") in January 2019. Excluding ExpressJet revenue in Q3 2018, Q3 2019 revenue increased $71 million, primarily from adding 24 new aircraft since Q3 2018.
Operating expenses were $614 million in Q3 2019, down from $691 million in Q3 2018, also due to the sale of ExpressJet. Excluding ExpressJet operating expenses in Q3 2018, Q3 2019 operating expenses increased $62 million, primarily from growth in operations as a result of additional aircraft placed into service since Q3 2018.
Operational Update
Aircraft deliveries under previously announced deals for Delta New E175 aircraft to be financed and operated by SkyWest:
-
Five aircraft scheduled for delivery in Q4 2019
-
Six aircraft scheduled for delivery from early to mid-2020 New CRJ900 aircraft to be financed by Delta and operated by SkyWest:
-
One aircraft delivered in Q3 2019
-
One aircraft scheduled for delivery in mid-2020 Used E175 aircraft financed by Delta and operated by SkyWest:
Six aircraft scheduled for in-service dates from early to mid-2020
During Q3 2019, SkyWest acquired four CRJ900 aircraft under an early lease buyout. These four aircraft are scheduled to expire under SkyWest's flying agreement with Delta in 2020. SkyWest also anticipates removing eight CRJ700s from its flying agreement with Delta by the end of 2020. As previously announced, SkyWest has an agreement with Delta to replace these 12 used CRJ aircraft with 12 new aircraft. Following their agreement expirations, SkyWest anticipates utilizing these 12 used aircraft in various ways: placing them with other partners, using the airframe/engines as spare parts and/or leasing the airframes/engines to third parties.
Aircraft deliveries under previously announced deals for American
SkyWest is scheduled to place ten used CRJ700 aircraft with American throughout 2020 including seven used aircraft that SkyWest anticipates acquiring from a third party and three used aircraft that SkyWest expects to source through upcoming contract expirations with another SkyWest partner.
Lease agreement with a third party for 29 CRJ700 aircraft
SkyWest has placed four of 29 CRJ700 aircraft under a previously announced lease agreement with a third party for a ten-year term as of September 30, 2019. SkyWest anticipates the remaining aircraft will be placed under lease in increments through mid-2020.
Capital and Liquidity
SkyWest had $572 million in cash and marketable securities at September 30, 2019, up from $550 million at June 30, 2019. During the third quarter of 2019, SkyWest:
-
Used $25 million to repurchase stock under SkyWest's $250 million share repurchase program
-
Used $30 million to acquire four CRJ900 aircraft under an early lease buyout
-
Used $39 million to acquire spare engines and $33 million for other spare aircraft parts and maintenance assets
Total debt at September 30, 2019 was $3.0 billion, down from $3.1 billion as of June 30, 2019.
SkyWest, Inc. and Subsidiaries |
|||||||||
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income |
|||||||||
(Dollars and Shares in Thousands, Except per Share Amounts) |
|||||||||
(Unaudited) |
|||||||||
Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
||||||||
2019 |
2018 |
2019 |
2018 |
||||||
OPERATING REVENUES |
|||||||||
Flying agreements |
$ 738,838 |
$ 816,057 |
$ 2,164,173 |
$ 2,377,659 |
|||||
Airport customer service and other |
21,457 |
13,218 |
64,199 |
40,531 |
|||||
Total operating revenues |
760,295 |
829,275 |
2,228,372 |
2,418,190 |
|||||
OPERATING EXPENSES |
|||||||||
Salaries, wages and benefits |
251,414 |
301,378 |
752,768 |
901,775 |
|||||
Aircraft maintenance, materials and repairs |
133,521 |
142,285 |
376,572 |
423,665 |
|||||
Depreciation and amortization |
92,795 |
86,088 |
272,929 |
246,386 |
|||||
Aircraft fuel |
31,063 |
30,258 |
87,570 |
87,208 |
|||||
Airport-related expenses |
27,808 |
25,655 |
89,237 |
80,852 |
|||||
Aircraft rentals |
17,676 |
36,827 |
55,840 |
119,015 |
|||||
Special items |
- |
- |
21,869 |
- |
|||||
Other operating expenses |
59,577 |
68,859 |
184,634 |
206,511 |
|||||
Total operating expenses |
613,854 |
691,350 |
1,841,419 |
2,065,412 |
|||||
OPERATING INCOME |
146,441 |
137,925 |
386,953 |
352,778 |
|||||
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) |
|||||||||
Interest income |
3,542 |
2,283 |
11,081 |
5,692 |
|||||
Interest expense |
(31,606) |
(31,440) |
(96,884) |
(86,485) |
|||||
Other income, net |
361 |
1,157 |
47,367 |
3,470 |
|||||
Total other expense, net |
(27,703) |
(28,000) |
(38,436) |
(77,323) |
|||||
INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES |
118,738 |
109,925 |
348,517 |
275,455 |
|||||
PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES |
27,399 |
26,879 |
80,945 |
62,189 |
|||||
NET INCOME |
$ 91,339 |
$ 83,046 |
$ 267,572 |
$ 213,266 |
|||||
BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE |
$ 1.80 |
$ 1.60 |
$ 5.24 |
$ 4.10 |
|||||
DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE |
$ 1.79 |
$ 1.57 |
$ 5.19 |
$ 4.03 |
|||||
Weighted average common shares |
|||||||||
Basic |
50,746 |
52,039 |
51,111 |
52,002 |
|||||
Diluted |
51,129 |
52,981 |
51,568 |
52,976 |
SkyWest, Inc. and Subsidiaries |
|||
Summary of Consolidated Balance Sheets |
|||
(Dollars in Thousands) |
|||
(Unaudited) |
|||
September 30, 2019 |
December 31, 2018 |
||
Cash and marketable securities |
$ 571,506 |
$ 689,329 |
|
Other current assets |
238,883 |
331,465 |
|
Total current assets |
810,389 |
1,020,794 |
|
Property and equipment, net |
5,245,792 |
4,963,732 |
|
Deposit on aircraft |
50,906 |
42,012 |
|
Other long-term assets |
490,572 |
286,674 |
|
Total assets |
$ 6,597,659 |
$ 6,313,212 |
|
Current portion, long-term debt |
$ 362,582 |
$ 350,206 |
|
Other current liabilities |
598,957 |
574,620 |
|
Total current liabilities |
961,539 |
924,826 |
|
Long-term debt, net of current maturities |
2,622,236 |
2,809,768 |
|
Other long-term liabilities |
897,624 |
614,337 |
|
Stockholders' equity |
2,116,260 |
1,964,281 |
|
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity |
$ 6,597,659 |
$ 6,313,212 |
Unaudited Operating Highlights - SkyWest Airlines |
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Three Months Ended September 30, |
Nine Months Ended September 30, |
|||||||
2019 |
2018 |
Change |
2019 |
2018 |
Change |
|||
Block hours |
375,933 |
355,264 |
5.8% |
1,096,104 |
1,028,492 |
6.6% |
||
Departures |
219,272 |
207,074 |
5.9% |
627,799 |
592,139 |
6.0% |
||
Adjusted flight completion |
99.9% |
99.9% |
0.0 pts |
99.9% |
99.9% |
0.0 pts |
||
Raw flight completion |
98.5% |
98.9% |
(0.4) pts |
97.8% |
98.5% |
(0.7) pts |
||
Passengers carried |
11,568,831 |
10,784,556 |
7.3% |
32,566,966 |
30,101,561 |
8.2% |
||
Passenger load factor |
83.9% |
83.0% |
0.9 pts |
82.3% |
81.6% |
0.7 pts |
||
Average passenger trip length |
501 |
489 |
2.5% |
501 |
490 |
2.2% |
On January 22, 2019, SkyWest completed the sale of ExpressJet to a third party. The unaudited operating highlights above include SkyWest Airlines only and exclude ExpressJet in both periods for comparability purposes.
Adjusted flight completion percent excludes weather cancellations. Raw flight completion includes weather cancellations.
SkyWest, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Additional Operational Information (unaudited)
SkyWest's total fleet in service increased by one aircraft during Q3 2019, as follows:
Aircraft in scheduled service at June 30, 2019: |
482 |
|||
Additions: |
||||
New CRJ900 aircraft: |
1 |
|||
Aircraft in scheduled service at September 30, 2019: |
483 |
SkyWest's total fleet in service decreased by 91 aircraft over the last 12 months, as follows:
Aircraft in scheduled service at September 30, 2018: |
574 |
|||
Additions: |
||||
New E175 aircraft: |
13 |
|||
New CRJ900 aircraft: |
11 |
|||
Total new aircraft added: |
24 |
|||
Used aircraft transitioned back into service, net |
18 |
|||
SkyWest Airlines removals: |
||||
CRJ900 aircraft: |
(5) |
|||
ExpressJet removals: |
||||
ERJ145 aircraft: |
(100) |
|||
CRJ700 aircraft: |
(28) |
|||
(128) |
||||
Aircraft in scheduled service at September 30, 2019: |
483 |
SkyWest, Inc. and Subsidiaries |
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Additional Operational Information (continued and unaudited) |
|||||||||||||
Completed Block Hours by Aircraft Type |
|||||||||||||
Three months ended September 30, |
Nine months ended September 30, |
||||||||||||
2019 |
2018 |
Variance % |
2019 |
2018 |
Variance % |
||||||||
E175s |
135,780 |
120,694 |
12.5% |
395,776 |
329,667 |
20.1% |
|||||||
CRJ900s |
31,595 |
28,175 |
12.1% |
93,988 |
84,588 |
11.1% |
|||||||
CRJ700s |
75,612 |
68,621 |
10.2% |
224,448 |
201,687 |
11.3% |
|||||||
CRJ200s |
132,946 |
137,774 |
(3.5)% |
381,892 |
412,550 |
(7.4)% |
|||||||
Total Block Hours |
375,933 |
355,264 |
5.8% |
1,096,104 |
1,028,492 |
6.6% |
|||||||
Aircraft in Scheduled Service and Block Hour Production Forecast for 2019 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As of
|
As of
|
As of
|
As of
|
As of
|
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SkyWest Airlines aircraft (1): |
(Actual) |
(Actual) |
(Actual) |
(Actual) |
(Estimate) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
E175s |
146 |
147 |
151 |
151 |
156 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
CRJ900s |
41 |
43 |
42 |
43 |
43 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
CRJ700s |
99 |
99 |
99 |
99 |
94 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
CRJ200s |
184 |
187 |
190 |
190 |
190 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Total SkyWest Airlines |
470 |
476 |
482 |
483 |
483 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
As of 12/31/2018 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ExpressJet aircraft (1): |
(Actual) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ERJ145s |
100 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CRJ200s |
16 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CRJ700s |
10 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total ExpressJet |
126 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Q4 2018 |
Q1 2019 |
Q2 2019 |
Q3 2019 |
Q4 2019 |
Total 2019 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||
SkyWest Airlines (2): |
(Actual) |
(Actual) |
(Actual) |
(Actual) |
(Estimate) |
(Estimate) |
||||||||||||||||||||||
Block Hours |
351,928 |
349,389 |
370,782 |
375,933 |
369,000 |
1,465,000 |
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(1) |
The aircraft count in the table above excludes aircraft removed from SkyWest's scheduled service. Actual fleet counts may vary from the forecast due to timing of aircraft removed from service, timing of aircraft placed into service when transitioning between flying contracts, and timing of new aircraft deliveries. |
As of September 30, 2019, SkyWest leased four CRJ200s, four CRJ700s and five CRJ900s to third parties (these aircraft are excluded from the table above). |
|
(2) |
Actual production may vary from estimates for various reasons including, but not limited to, timing of aircraft removals and deliveries and anticipated flight completion rates. Actual block hours presented for Q4 2018 and Q1 2019 in the table above exclude block hours operated by ExpressJet prior to the sale of ExpressJet on January 22, 2019. ExpressJet generated approximately 17,000 block hours in the month of January 2019 through the date of sale. ExpressJet also generated 81,500 block hours in Q4 2018. |