Allegiant Travel Company has reported a first quarter 2021 net profit of $6.9 million or $0.42 per diluted share on a year-over-year revenue decline of 32 percent to $279 million. At March 31, 2021, the carrier had cash and short-term investments totaling $728 million.
On Tuesday (May 4, 2021), Allegiant Travel Company reported their first quarter 2021 financial results. The airline reported a first quarter 2021 net profit of $6.9 million or $0.42 per diluted share on a year-over-year revenue decline of 32 percent to $279 million. During the first quarter, the company restored their scheduled service capacity, which was up 3.1 percent versus Q1 2019. Allegiant also expanded their network by adding 50 new routes, three new cities and nine event-specific routes, bringing their total offer to 580 routes across 129 cities. At March 31, 2021, the company had cash and short-term investments totaling $728 million. First quarter CAPEX totaled $56 million, largely attributable to the acquisition of three aircraft and spare engines.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Allegiant Travel Company’s Chairman and CEO, Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., said,
“The momentum reported last quarter picked up in earnest towards the back half of the first quarter with booking trends showing meaningful improvement. We completed the quarter with earnings per share of $0.42 on year over two-year revenue declines of 38.2 percent, continuing the trend of sequential revenue improvement. We were the first domestic carrier to restore capacity to pre-pandemic levels, with first quarter scheduled capacity up 3.1 percent as compared to 2019. Booking trends have been particularly impressive with average daily bookings for the months of March and April exceeding the same time period in 2019. Furthermore, the booking curve appears to be normalizing and more closely resembling what we saw in 2019. April's results came in as strong as March helped by a ten-point increase in load factor from 54 to 64 percent. We expect capacity in the coming months will be equal to or greater than our 2019 levels.
“During the past year, in the face of this terrible pandemic, we were focused on improving ourselves. I believe we have done that . We have improved our cost structure substantially. Our balance sheet is in excellent shape. As of March 31, our net debt has decreased. Our cash balances have increased, and by the end of the second quarter we expect to have total liquidity of $1 billion, or more than double our year-end 2019 balance. We were able to double our cash balances without an equity raise or substantial increases in debt. We benefited from the payroll support programs as well as federal income tax refunds of the substantial tax payments made in the past years. Our shareholders have seen their company's balance sheet improve dramatically - perhaps more than any other company in this space - in spite of the setbacks and hardships imposed by this unprecedented event.
“I could not be more bullish on our outlook. Going forward our full-year, 2021 capacity should exceed 2019 capacity levels. We expect sequential scheduled service revenue improvement with revenue down just six to ten percent as compared with 2019 levels. This revenue growth should continue through the remainder of 2021. We continue to separate ourselves from the competition, operating more capacity and generating positive EBITDA and earnings. I believe now more than ever our low-cost, low-utilization model designed to provide affordable leisure travel is our competitive advantage, which will help drive us towards returning to our goal of $6 million in EBITDA per aircraft.
“We would not be in the favorable position we are today without the continued efforts of the 4,000 employees throughout our network. Their hard work has been integral to successfully navigating the most difficult year in the industry's history. It is their efforts that have enabled us to effectively manage capacity while cutting costs from the business - both critical components to ensuring a sustained return to profitability.”
Founded in 1999, Las Vegas, Nevada-based Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) links passengers from small to medium cities to world-class leisure destinations with all non-stop flights and industry-low average fares. The company offers base airfares that are often half the price of a typical roundtrip ticket and operates an all-Airbus A320 Family fleet.
In after hours trading on Tuesday evening, shares in Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ: ALGT) were up 4.18% to $240.00/share (6:36 PM EDT).
Source: Allegiant Travel Company