Air Lease reported revenue of $1,516 million for the full year 2017, an increase of 6.9% compared to 2016. The company also reported revenue of $398 million for the three months ended December 31, 2017, an increase of 7.6%.

Air Lease also recorded a $354 million tax benefit for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, due to the remeasurement of deferred tax liabilities as a result of the Tax Reform Act. Air Lease expects that the lower U.S. corporate tax rate will help to increase its net income and accelerate growth.

Additional highlights from Air Lease’s earnings report include:

• The company took delivery of its first 737 MAX and A350 aircraft from its orderbook in Q4/17 and has commitments to purchase 128 737 MAX aircraft and 18 A350 aircraft between 2018 and 2023.
• Ended the year with a net book value of $13.3 billion in aircraft with a weighted average age of 3.8 years and a weighted average lease term remaining of 6.8 years.
• Placed 97% of its order book on long-term leases for aircraft delivering through 2019 and 79% through 2020.
• Ended the year with $23.4 billion in committed minimum future rental payments, including $10.1 billion in contracted minimum rental payments on the aircraft in its existing fleet and $13.3 billion in minimum future rental payments related to aircraft delivering in the future.
• Issued a total of $2.2 billion of senior unsecured notes in 2017 and ended the year with liquidity of $3.2 billion and further decreased its composite cost of funds to 3.20%.

“Air Lease achieved solid financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2017. For the first time, we exceeded $15 billion in assets and $1.5 billion in total revenues. We also maintained a high level of profitability,” said John L. Plueger, CEO and president. “The industry backdrop remains healthy with passenger traffic up 7.6% year over year in 2017, exceeding the 10-year average annual growth rate. These robust levels of passenger traffic further support the ongoing demand for new aircraft we have seen from our customers. Looking ahead, we believe ALC is well positioned for continued growth, further enhanced by expected ongoing benefits resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”

“The ALC team should be commended for their customer focus and strong risk management principles, both of which underpin the results of the fourth quarter and full year 2017. Since inception ALC has been focused on driving shareholder value, and over the last five years ALC’s profits have increased more than threefold,” said Steven F. Udvar-Házy, executive chairman of the board. “Moving forward, we believe our valuable order book of highly in-demand, modern, fuel-efficient aircraft will service the needs of our customers, and together with our investment grade profile, will position us for continued success in the years to come.”