International aircraft leasing company Avolon issued an update on its Q4/17 and full year performance for 2017.

Q4 Business Highlights & Fleet Metrics

• Seven aircraft delivered and five aircraft sold during Q4/17
• 2018 orderbook deliveries fully placed and all twin aisle aircraft from orderbook placed out until Q4/19
• Sale of the remaining three aircraft from Avolon Capital Partners, the company’s joint venture with Wells Fargo in which Avolon was a 25% JV partner, with returns realized ahead of expectations
• Owned, managed and committed fleet increased by 109% year-on-year to 908 aircraft at the end of Q4/17
• Average age of owned fleet of 5.3 years, and average remaining lease term of delivered fleet of 6.6 years
• Total customer base increased to 153 airlines in 64 countries.

Q4/17 Financial Highlights

• Following the successful re-pricing of the $5.0 billion TLB-2 facility in Q3/17, Avolon re-priced its $500 million TLB-1 facility in Q4/17 and repaid $130 million of the TLB-1 facility during the re-pricing
• Increased debt facilities by $907 million during Q4/17, of which $200 million was an upsize to a revolving warehouse facility
• During the quarter, Avolon paid $226.5 million to acquire a minority interest in an existing aircraft portfolio investment agreement, thereby removing all remaining non-controlling interests.

2017 Full Year Highlights

• Completed the $10.4 billion acquisition and integration of CIT’s aircraft leasing business creating the third-largest aircraft lessor globally with an owned, managed and committed fleet of 908 aircraft
• Received corporate credit ratings from four rating agencies which, at year end were: Fitch Ratings (BB), Kroll Bond Rating Agency (BBB+), Moody’s Investor Service (Ba2, upgraded from Ba3) and S&P Global Ratings (BB+), all with stable outlooks
• Successfully raised $14.9 billion of total capital in 2017 including equity and debt, of which $9.75 billion of debt was raised in the public capital markets
• Delivered 45 new aircraft including delivery of the world’s first Boeing 737 MAX 8
• Sold a total of 44 aircraft, which comprised the sale of 29 owned aircraft and 15 managed aircraft, across the combined platform in 2017, bringing to more than 120 the total number of aircraft sold since 2012
• Announced a series of corporate transactions including a firm order for 75 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft including 55 MAX 8s and 20 MAX 10s with options for a further 20 MAX 8 aircraft and acquired all non-controlling interests in the consolidated Avolon group
• Published a total of four Thought Leadership papers in 2017 including a world fleet forecast which projects 43,000 new aircraft to be delivered over the next 20 years.

Dómhnal Slattery, Avolon CEO, said, “We are delighted to announce another strong quarter of trading; completing what has been a transformational year for the company. The year was headlined by the acquisition and integration of the CIT aircraft leasing business, and our order for 75 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. We believe that our strong cashflows, credit metrics and proven management team are a testament to the strength of our business. We are highly confident about the future for Avolon, as we continue to build towards becoming the global leader in aircraft leasing.”