Air Lease released record financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016. Air Lease said revenues of $1.4 billion for the full year were up 16% compared $1.2 billion a year earlier. Net income of $374.9 million was up 48% from $253.4 million for the same period in 2015.

The following highlights were excerpted from the Air Lease news release:

• Signed agreements for 122 aircraft with 39 customers across 33 countries during 2016.
• Ended the year with a net book value of $12.0 billion in aircraft with a weighted average age of 3.8 years and a weighted average lease term remaining of 6.9 years.
• Sold 46 aircraft for proceeds of $1.2 billion during 2016 including the completion of the sales for all of its remaining ATR aircraft and 20 of its 25 Embraer aircraft to Nordic Aviation Capital.
• In January 2017, received an investment grade corporate and long-term debt credit rating of ‘BBB’ with a stable outlook from Fitch Ratings.

“We had a great fourth quarter and a terrific year, posting record financial results in a highly competitive lease market. Global passenger growth increased a healthy 6.3% in 2016 and continues to provide a fundamental stimulus to our business going forward. We completed the sale of all but five units (scheduled to be completed Q1 2017) of our Embraer fleet to NAC, which for the first time drove our aircraft sales over $1 billion for the year. We continue to pursue strategic initiatives that build on our core competencies, and we enter 2017 with a tailwind from our new investment grade ‘BBB’ rating from Fitch,” said John L. Plueger, CEO and president.

“Our team positioned ALC for future growth with the quality and earning power of our jet fleet, lessee diversification, and a solid balance sheet, with investment grade ratings from three agencies. We successfully pre-leased more single-aisle and twin-aisle aircraft than in any previous year, which we believe has enabled us to lock in excellent long-term commercial business with stable and growing cash flows. The professionalism with which the ALC team performed, on both new aircraft leasing and sales of used aircraft, deserves much credit. We focused on building shareholder value during 2016 by producing strong financial results and by increasing our common stock dividends by 50%. We believe we are well positioned for another successful year in 2017,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, executive chairman of the board.