Atlantic Coast Airlines, Inc. Reports 324% Increase in First Quarter Net Income.DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 1998-- First Quarter Highlights and Comparisons - Net income of $3 million vs. $0.7 million - Pre-Tax Income of $5.1 million vs. $1 million - Earnings per share of 32 cents vs. 8 cents - Operating margins Operating Margin A ratio used to measure a company's pricing strategy and operating efficiency. Calculated by: of 10.1% vs. 2.5% - Cost per available seat mile of 18.3 cents in 1998 vs 21.4 cents in 1997 Atlantic Coast Airlines Atlantic Coast Airlines (IATA: DH, ICAO: BLR, and Callsign: Blue Ridge) was an airline based in the United States owned by Atlantic Coast Holdings, Inc.. It operated as United Express for United Airlines and Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. , Inc. (NASDAQ/NM: ACAI), the parent company of Atlantic Coast Airlines ("ACA ACA - Application Control Architecture "), which operates in the Eastern United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. as United Express, today announced financial and operating results for the first quarter of 1998. ACAI reported net income of $3 million, or 32 cents per diluted di·lute tr.v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes 1. To make thinner or less concentrated by adding a liquid such as water. 2. To lessen the force, strength, purity, or brilliance of, especially by admixture. share in the first quarter of 1998, as compared to $0.7 million, or 8 cents per diluted share for the first quarter of 1997. Pre-tax income was $5.1 million for the first quarter of 1998, compared to $1 million for last year's first quarter. Operating margin for the first quarter of 1998, on a year-over-year basis, improved from 2.5 percent to 10.1 percent. The margin improvement was principally due to uni Uni (  `nē), fl. c.2325 B.C., Egyptian official of the VI dynasty. His career is known through his private inscription. t costs (cost per
available seat mile "ASM (1) (Association for Systems Management) An international membership organization based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1947 and disbanded in 1996, it sponsored conferences in all phases of administrative systems and management. ") decreasing at a faster rate than
unit revenues (passenger revenue per ASM).
On a year-over-year basis, cost per ASM decreased 14.6 percent to 18.3 cents, while passenger revenue per ASM decreased 8.2 percent to 19.9 cents. Unit costs were favorably fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. affected by a year-over-year 10.7 percent increase in average aircraft stage length to 258 miles, a year-over-year 18.6 percent reduction in the price per gallon gallon: see English units of measurement. of fuel, lower ownership costs for the Company's Jetstream 41 turboprop turboprop: see turbine. turboprop Hybrid engine that provides jet thrust and also drives a propeller. It is similar to the turbojet except that an added turbine, behind the combustion chamber, works through a shaft and speed-reducing gears to turn a fleet and the reduced travel agency commission rate. "We were quite pleased that our unit cost reductions were a major contributor to higher operating margins in this year's first quarter, a continuing trend from last year's fourth quarter," said Paul Tate, ACA's senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. "This was accomplished despite the introduction of service to four new cities and the passenger-related costs associated with the 9.8-point load factor increase during the first quarter of 1998." During the first quarter of 1998, ACA generated 284,981,000 ASMs, an increase of 52.5 percent over the same period last year, while revenue passenger miles Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) is a measure of a passenger traffic for an airline flight, bus, or train calculated by multiplying the total number of revenue-paying passengers aboard the vehicle by the distance traveled measured in miles. (RPMs) increased 90.6 percent to 139,596,000. The carrier's load factor during the first quarter was 49 percent, versus 39.2 percent in the first quarter of 1997. ACA carried 464,993 passengers, an increase of 55.5 percent over the same period in 1997. Yield decreased 26.6 percent to 40.6 cents on a year-over-year first quarter comparison. As a result, the break-even load factor increased in the first quarter of 1998 compared to last year by 5.7 points to 43.9 percent. "We continue to be encouraged by the favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. customer response to our new regional jet service," said Kerry Skeen, ACA's president and chief executive officer. "The regional jet is also enhancing our ability to connect incremental Additional or increased growth, bulk, quantity, number, or value; enlarged. Incremental cost is additional or increased cost of an item or service apart from its actual cost. passengers to our marketing partner, United Airlines, which will be increasing its Dulles schedule in June." The company noted several first quarter developments: -- ACA initiated regional jet service to Atlanta, Indianapolis and Tampa and began turboprop service to Wilmington, N.C. -- The airline opened a state-of-the-art fleet maintenance facility at Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport (IATA: IAD, ICAO: KIAD, FAA LID: IAD) is a public airport located 25 miles (40 km) west of the central business district of Washington, D.C., in Loudoun County and Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. , the only facility of its kind at the airport. -- ACA announced that holders of its 7 percent Convertible Notes converted $5.9 million of their Notes into approximately 330,000 common shares during the first quarter 1998. On April 8, 1998, the reduced conversion price period for holders of the 7 percent Notes expired ex·pire v. ex·pired, ex·pir·ing, ex·pires v.intr. 1. To come to an end; terminate: My membership in the club has expired. 2. . During this period, $29.3 million of the Notes were converted into approximately 1,654,000 shares of common stock. -- The airline increased its total number of confirmed regional jet orders from 18 to 23 -- seven jets are currently in operation, 16 more are scheduled for delivery in 1998 and 1999 and 25 options remain. Statements in this press release regarding projections and expectations of future earnings, revenues and costs represent forward looking information. A number of risks and uncertainties exist which could cause actual results to differ materially from these projected results. These factors are set forth under "Outlook" on page 26 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended Dec. 31, 1997. Atlantic Coast Airlines operates its hub at Washington-Dulles International Airport, where it offers nearly 220 departures every business day as United Express. From Washington-Dulles, ACA serves 46 destinations in 20 states with nonstop HP's brand name for its fault-tolerant servers, which range in size from four CPUs to 4,000 CPUs. The NonStop line was created by Tandem Computers, which was acquired by Compaq, which later became part of HP. service. Its route system spans from Maine to Florida. The average age of ACA's fleet is approximately five years. -0-
Operating Results
1st Quarter 1st Quarter Percentage
1998 1997 Change
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenue passenger miles (000's) 139,596 73,241 90.6%
Available seat miles (000's) 284,981 186,893 52.5%
Load factor 49% 39.2% 9.8 Pts.
Passengers 464,993 299,019 55.5%
Yield per RPM (cents) 40.6 55.3 (26.6%)
Passenger revenue per ASM (cents) 19.9 21.7 (8.2%)
Operating cost per ASM (cents) 18.3 21.4 14.6%
Break-even load factor 43.9% 38.2% (5.7 Pts.)
Average passenger trip length 300 245 22.6%
(miles)
Financial Results
1st Quarter 1st Quarter Percentage
1998 1997 Change
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Passenger revenue $56,692,604 $40,500,446 40.0%
Other revenue 1,362,166 613,840 122%
--------- -------
Total operating revenues 58,054,770 41,114,286 41.2%
Total operating expenses 52,180,013 40,077,190 (30.2%)
---------- ----------
Operating income 5,874,757 1,037,096 466.5%
Non-operating expenses 732,411 49,176
------- ------
Income before taxes 5,142,346 987,920 420.5%
Income taxes 2,159,786 285,288
--------- -------
Net income $2,982,560 $702,632 324.5%
========== ========
Net income per share - basic $.39 $.08
Net income per share - diluted $.32 $.08
Weighted average common shares - 7,580,832 8,501,213
basic
Weighted average common and
common equivalent shares - 11,017,284 9,041,999
diluted
Note: Updated information on schedules, routes, corporate news and
current promotions is available on the Atlantic Coast Airlines website:
www.atlanticcoast.com.
CONTACT: Atlantic Coast Airlines Jennifer Heronema, Public Relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most Manager 703/925-6019 |
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