Excluding special items, adjusted net income came in at $28.1 million or $0.64 per share
PANAMA CITY, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Copa Holdings, S.A.
(NYSE: CPA), parent company of Copa Airlines and Aero Republica, today
announced financial results for the second quarter of 2009 (2Q09). The terms
'Copa Holdings' or 'the Company' refer to the consolidated entity, whose
operating subsidiaries are Copa Airlines and Aero Republica. The following
financial and operating information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented
in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons with
prior periods refer to the second quarter of 2008 (2Q08).
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
-- Copa Holdings reported net income of US$55.2 million for 2Q09, or
diluted earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.26, an increase of 81.3% as compared
to net income of US$30.4 million or diluted EPS of US$0.70 in 2Q08.
-- Excluding special items, which for 2Q09 included a US$27.1 million
non-cash gain associated with the mark-to-market of fuel hedge contracts, Copa
Holdings would have reported an adjusted net income of US$28.1 million, or
diluted EPS of $0.64, compared to an adjusted net income of US$24.8 million or
EPS of US$0.57 for 2Q08. See the accompanying reconciliation of non-GAAP
financial information to GAAP financial information included in the financial
tables section of this earnings release.
-- Passenger traffic for the months of May and June were negatively
affected as a result of the H1N1 flu crisis, which resulted in lower overall
demand for intra-Latin America travel, especially to and from Mexico. The
Company estimates that the H1N1 flu crisis reduced consolidated passenger
revenue by approximately US$12 million.
-- Operating income for 2Q09 came in at US$36.8 million, despite a
US$12.8 million realized fuel hedge loss, representing an increase of 17.8% as
compared to operating income of US$31.2 million for 2Q08, which included a
US$7.5 million fuel hedge gain. Operating margin increased from 10.5% to
13.2%.
-- In 2Q09, total revenues reached US$277.6 million, representing a 6.8%
decline, on a 16.5% capacity expansion. Yield per passenger mile decreased
13.3% to 15.6 cents and operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM)
decreased 20.0% to 11.4 cents.
-- Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) increased 7.5% from 1.56 billion in 2Q08
to 1.68 billion in 2Q09, and available seat miles (ASMs) increased 16.5% from
2.09 billion in 2Q08 to 2.44 billion in 2Q09, with the Copa Airlines segment
increasing 18.1% year-over-year and Aero Republica increasing 8.9%.
Consolidated load factor decreased 5.7 percentage points to 68.7%. Break-even
load factor for 2Q09 decreased 6.7 percentage points to 59.7% from 66.4% in
2Q08.
-- Operating cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased 22.5%, from
12.7 cents in 2Q08 to 9.9 cents in 2Q09. CASM, excluding fuel costs,
decreased 9.1% from 7.8 cents in 2Q08 to 7.1 cents in 2Q09.
-- Cash, short term and long term investments ended the quarter at
US$394.3 million, representing 31% of the last twelve months' revenues.
-- Copa Holdings ended the quarter with a consolidated fleet of 58
aircraft. Copa Airlines fleet consisted of 43 aircraft, including 28 Boeing
737 Next Generation and 15 Embraer-190's. Aero Republica's fleet consisted of
15 aircraft, including 11 Embraer-190's and four MD-80's.
-- For 2Q09, Copa Airlines reported on-time performance of approximately
90% and a flight-completion factor of 99.5%, maintaining its position among
the best in the industry.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
-- On July 16, Copa Airlines and Boeing announced an order for 13 Boeing
737-800 aircraft, plus options for an additional 8.
