| For immediate release: |
| |
| Exhibit 99.1 |
| |
| Contact: Warren R. Wilkinson |
| Republic Airways Holdings |
| Tel. (317) 484-6042 |
Republic Airways Holdings Announces Fourth Quarter
and Calendar Year 2007 Earnings
Indianapolis, Indiana, (February 6, 2008) – Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ/NM: RJET) today reported operating revenues of $351.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, a 19.2% increase, compared to $295.3 million for the same period last year. The Company also reported net income of $24.3 million, or $0.65 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2007, compared to $20.4 million of net income, or $0.46 per diluted share, for the same period last year.
The primary items of significance affecting the fourth quarter of 2007 are outlined below:
Fourth Quarter 2007 Highlights
Excluding reimbursement for fuel expense, which is a pass-through cost to our partners, regional airline service revenues increased 26.3% to $268.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2007 from $212.2 million for the same quarter of 2006, primarily as a result of a 25.7% increase in block hours. The block hour increase reflects the addition of 49 aircraft that were placed into service throughout the year.
During the quarter the Company took delivery of eight, new 86-seat E175 aircraft and entered into long-term, fixed-rate debt financing arrangements for all eight aircraft.
Total operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2007, including interest expense but excluding fuel charges (which are reimbursable by the Company’s partners) of $237.5 million, increased approximately 27.0% from $187.0 million for the same quarter of 2006. Operating cost per ASM (CASM), including interest expense but excluding fuel decreased to 7.38¢ from 7.63¢ in the prior year’s fourth quarter. For the quarter, the Company reported a 31.2% increase in available seat miles (ASMs) to 3.22 billion ASMs, up from 2.45 billion ASMs during the same period last year.
This year’s fourth quarter results included a year-to-date adjustment for state tax liabilities which increased net income for the quarter by approximately $2.7 million, or $0.07 per diluted share. The negative impact on pre-tax earnings for transition expenses during the quarter was approximately $2 million, which is consistent with the guidance provided by the Company during its third quarter update.
Also during the quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 1.8 million shares of its common stock for total consideration of approximately $37.1 million. On December 14, 2007, the Board of Directors authorized an additional $100 million share repurchase program. As of December 31, 2007, $98.6 million of this authorization remained.
Full Year 2007 Highlights
For the full year ended December 31, 2007, operating revenues increased 13.1% to $1.29 billion, compared to $1.14 billion for the same period last year. Excluding reimbursement for fuel expense, which is a pass-through cost to our partners, regional airline services revenues increased 23.4% to $978.0 million for 2007 from $792.7 million for 2006, primarily as a result of a 22.1% increase in block hours. The Company also reported net income of $82.8 million for 2007, or $2.02 per diluted share.
The impact on 2007 pre-tax earnings for transition expenses, which include unreimbursed aircraft costs, increased pilot training expenses, and forgone profits on the Company’s reduced scheduled operations during the year, was approximately $19 million.
The Company increased its operating fleet to 219 aircraft as of December 31, 2007, from 171 as of December 31, 2006. Forty-nine aircraft were placed into service during the year and one aircraft was removed from charter service and subleased offshore.
During the year the Company repurchased over seven million shares of its common stock for total consideration of $142.4 million. This reduction in basic shares, coupled with the cancellation of over 3.4 million warrants as a result of amending the Company’s Delta agreements, reduced the Company’s diluted share count for the fourth quarter of 2007 by more than 15% from the fourth quarter of 2006.
Total ASMs for 2007 increased 25.7% from 2006 to 11.5 billion and block hours increased 22.1% from 2006 to almost 680,000 in 2007. Operating cost per ASM (CASM), including interest expense but excluding fuel decreased to 7.58¢ in 2007 from 7.61¢ in 2006.
Balance Sheet Information
At December 31, 2007, the Company had $164.0 million in cash and marketable securities compared to $195.5 million as of December 31, 2006. The Company’s long-term debt increased to $1.91 billion as of December 31, 2007, compared to $1.57 billion at December 31, 2006. The Company has significant long-term lease obligations that are classified as operating leases and are not reflected as liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. At a 7.0% discount factor, the present value of these lease obligations was approximately $777 million as of December 31, 2007.
Corporate Information
Republic Airways Holdings, the 2008 ATW Regional Airline of the Year, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is an airline holding company that owns Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America. The airlines offer scheduled passenger service on over 1,250 flights daily to 119 cities in 38 states, Canada, Mexico and Jamaica through airline services agreements with six U.S. airlines. All of the airlines' flights are operated under their airline partner brand, such as AmericanConnection, Continental Express, Delta Connection, Frontier Airlines, United Express and US Airways Express. As of December 31, 2007, the airlines employed approximately 4,700 aviation professionals and operated 219 regional jets. For more information on Republic Airways please visit our website at www.rjet.com
The Company will conduct a telephone briefing to discuss its fourth quarter results tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. EST. A live Webcast of this briefing will be available online at www.rjet.com - investor relations. This call is being webcast by Thomson/CCBN and can be accessed at Republic Airways Holdings website at www.rjet.com. For those wishing to participate please call 866-831-6247 and for international calls please dial 617-213-8856, the password is 36047516. To listen to a telephone replay of the webcast please call 888-286-8010 and the password is 74680052. For international telephone replay please call 617-801-6888 and use the same password. The replay will be available February 7, 2008 at 12:30 pm until March 7, 2008.
Additional Information
In addition to historical information, this release contains forward-looking statements. Republic Airways may, from time-to-time, make written or oral forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements encompass Republic Airways’ beliefs, expectations, hopes or intentions regarding future events. Words such as "expects," "intends," "believes," "anticipates," "should," "likely" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements included in this release are made as of the date hereof and are based on information available to Republic Airways as of such date. Republic Airways assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. Actual results may vary, and may vary materially, from those anticipated, estimated, projected or expected for a number of reasons, including, among others, the risk factors disclosed in the Company’s most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
| REPUBLIC AIRWAYS HOLDINGS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME |
| (Dollars and Shares in Thousands, Except per Share Amounts) |
| (Unaudited) |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| Financial Highlights | Three Months Ended December 31, | | Twelve Months Ended December 31, |
| | 2007 | 2006 | Change | | 2007 | 2006 | Change |
| OPERATING REVENUES | | | | | | | |
| Regional Airline Services | $ 347,747 | $ 289,306 | 20.2% | | $ 1,274,607 | $ 1,118,226 | 14.0% |
| Other | 4,092 | 5,983 | -31.6% | | 18,070 | 24,852 | -27.3% |
| Total operating revenues | 351,839 | 295,289 | 19.2% | | 1,292,677 | 1,143,078 | 13.1% |
| | | | | | | | |
| OPERATING EXPENSES | | | | | | | |
| Wages and benefits | 62,836 | 45,328 | 38.6% | | 226,521 | 175,483 | 29.1% |
| Aircraft fuel | 79,759 | 77,074 | 3.5% | | 296,573 | 325,500 | 8.9% |
| Landing fees | 14,307 | 11,528 | 24.1% | | 53,684 | 41,993 | 27.8% |
| Aircraft and engine rent | 33,924 | 24,897 | 36.3% | | 124,961 | 94,773 | 31.9% |
| Maintenance and repair | 34,637 | 29,342 | 18.0% | | 130,237 | 105,198 | 23.8% |
| Insurance and taxes | 4,821 | 3,672 | 31.3% | | 19,039 | 17,652 | 7.9% |
| Depreciation and amortization | 28,865 | 24,906 | 15.9% | | 106,594 | 92,228 | 15.6% |
| Impairment | - | - | 0.0% | | - | (2,050) | NM |
| Other | 29,214 | 22,980 | 27.1% | | 104,790 | 79,708 | 31.5% |
| Total operating expenses | 288,363 | 239,727 | 20.3% | | 1,062,399 | 930,485 | 14.2% |
| OPERATING INCOME | 63,476 | 55,562 | 14.2% | | 230,278 | 212,593 | 8.3% |
| | | | | | | | |
| OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE) | | | | | | | |
| Interest expense | (28,888) | (24,356) | 18.6% | | (107,323) | (91,128) | 17.8% |
| Other income | 1,983 | 2,697 | -26.5% | | 11,013 | 9,944 | 10.8% |
| Total other income (expense) | (26,905) | (21,659) | 24.2% | | (96,310) | (81,184) | 18.6% |
| | | | | | | | |
| INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES | 36,571 | 33,903 | 7.9% | | 133,968 | 131,409 | 1.9% |
| | | | | | | | |
| INCOME TAX EXPENSE | 12,304 | 13,480 | -8.7% | | 51,210 | 51,899 | -1.3% |
| | | | | | | | |
| NET INCOME | 24,267 | 20,423 | 18.8% | | 82,758 | 79,510 | 4.1% |
| PER SHARE, BASIC | $ 0.66 | $ 0.48 | 37.5% | | $ 2.05 | $ 1.89 | 8.5% |
| PER SHARE, DILUTED | $ 0.65 | $ 0.46 | 41.3% | | $ 2.02 | $ 1.82 | 11.0% |
| Weighted Average Common Shares | | | | | | | |
| Basic | 36,933 | 42,606 | -13.3% | | 40,350 | 42,150 | -4.3% |
| Diluted | 37,246 | 43,949 | -15.3% | | 41,046 | 43,616 | -5.9% |
| Unaudited Operating Highlights | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| Operating Highlights | Three Months Ended December 31, | | Twelve Months Ended December 31, |
| | 2007 | 2006 | Change | | 2007 | 2006 | Change |
| Regional airline services revenues, excluding fuel ($000) | 267,988 | 212,232 | 26.3% | | 978,034 | 792,726 | 23.4% |
| Passengers carried | 4,466,422 | 3,325,774 | 34.3% | | 16,286,807 | 12,666,130 | 28.6% |
| Revenue passenger miles (000) | 2,333,764 | 1,732,016 | 34.7% | | 8,581,836 | 6,650,399 | 29.0% |
| Available seat miles (000) | 3,218,343 | 2,452,261 | 31.2% | | 11,511,795 | 9,154,719 | 25.7% |
| Passenger load factor | 72.5% | 70.6% | 1.9 pts | | 74.5% | 72.6% | 1.9 pts |
| Cost per available seat mile, including interest expense (cents) | 9.86 | 10.77 | -8.4% | | 10.16 | 11.16 | -9.0% |
| Fuel cost per available seat mile (cents) | 2.48 | 3.14 | -21.0% | | 2.58 | 3.55 | -27.3% |
| Cost per available seat mile, excluding fuel expense (cents) | 7.38 | 7.63 | -3.3% | | 7.58 | 7.61 | -0.4% |
| Operating aircraft at period end: | | | | | | | |
| 37-50 seat regional jets | 118 | 95 | 24.2% | | 118 | 95 | 24.2% |
| 70+ seat regional jets | 101 | 76 | 32.9% | | 101 | 76 | 32.9% |
| Block hours | 187,477 | 149,096 | 25.7% | | 679,718 | 556,636 | 22.1% |
| Departures | 104,883 | 84,898 | 23.5% | | 381,415 | 319,021 | 19.6% |
| Average daily utilization of each aircraft (hours) | 10.3 | 10.4 | -1.0% | | 10.3 | 10.3 | 0.0% |
| Average aircraft stage length | 521 | 511 | 2.0% | | 522 | 515 | 1.4% |
