Spirit Airlines Reports Fourth Quarter Net Income of $81.2M, Full Year Net Income of $335.3M
- Joe Breitfeller
- Feb 5, 2020
- 3 min read
Spirit Airlines reported on Wednesday a fourth quarter net income of $81.2M or diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.18. For the full year, the carrier reported a net income of $335.3M or diluted EPS of $4.89.
Spirit Airlines reported today a net income of $81.2M for the fourth quarter versus $91.9M in the fourth quarter of 2018. Fourth quarter diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.18 compared to $1.34 in Q4 2018. For the full year, the Miramar, Florida-based LCC reported a net income of $335.3M versus $155.7M for the same quarter last year. The carrier’s full year diluted EPS was $4.89, compared to $2.28 for FY 2018. In Wednesday’s announcement, Spirit Airlines’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Ted Christie said,
“2019 was a year of many accomplishments for Spirit. Our improving operational reliability, and the investments we’re making to provide our Guests the best value in the sky are being noticed by our Guests and earning us international acclaim. We once-again achieved a fourth-place ranking for on-time performance among reporting U.S. carriers. Spirit also recently received several global recognitions: Low-Cost Airline of the Year at the CAPA World Aviation Summit; Value Airline of the Year by Air Transport World; and, Most On-Time Low Cost Airline by Flight Global. Our team also delivered strong financial results for 2019. For the full year 2019, our GAAP pre-tax earnings increased $112.9 percent year over year. Excluding special items, our adjusted pre-tax earnings increased 15.3 percent year over year. I am very proud of the Spirit team for these accomplishments. Looking ahead to 2020, we are focused on running a safe and reliable airline, leveraging technology and automation to further drive efficiencies, and executing on our revenue initiatives to deliver strong returns for our shareholders.”
Revenue for the fourth quarter increased 12.4 percent year over year (YoY) to $969.8M, while full year revenue increased 15.3% to $3.83B versus FY 2018. Total operating revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) for Q4 decreased 3.6 percent YoY, while cost per available seat mile – excluding fuel and operating special items (CASM-ex) increased 3.3 percent versus the fourth quarter of 2018 to 5.67 cents. Also commenting on today’s financial report, Spirit Airlines’ Chief Financial Officer, Scott Haralson added,
“Our team did a great job recovering from the operational issues we faced in the summer and finished the year 2019 with strong operational results. Strong operational performance is key to our continued good cost management and we believe we are well-positioned as we enter 2020. As we’ve noted previously, we have several inflationary pressures we are facing such that we expect our 2020 CASM ex-fuel to increase 1 to 2 percent year over year. From a timing perspective we face the toughest hurdle in the first quarter, but we anticipate the headwinds will ease as we progress through the year. And, while we already have one of the most fuel-efficient fleets in the U.S., with our growing fleet of A320neo aircraft we should see even greater fuel efficiency this year, helping us offset some Adjusted CASM ex-fuel pressure.”
At the end of 2019, Spirit had unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short term investments of $1.1B. Operating cash flow for FY 2019 was $409.2M and after the carrier invested $294.5M for aircraft purchases and pre-delivery deposits and issued long-term debt of 225.9M, adjusted free cash flow for the year came in at $340.6M. In the twelve months ending December 31, 2019 Spirit used $120.2 in net cash for financing activities. During the fourth quarter, the airline took delivery of seven A320neos and two A320ceos. The carrier also announced a new $250M Dania Beach, Florida headquarters and ordered 100 A320 Family Aircraft (with an option for up to 50 more), which are expected to be delivered through 2027.
In after hours trading on Wednesday, shares in Spirit Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: SAVE) were trading up 2.95% at $45.75/share (7:00PM EST).
Source: Spirit Airlines
