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(Alliance News) - DP Aircraft I Ltd on Monday reported a slight decline in net assets in the first half but remains positive about the airline industry for the rest of 2019.
At June 30, the aircraft leasing firm's NAV per share stood at USD1.0199, slightly down compared to USD1.0217 at December 31.
The company's net assets slipped marginally in the same period to USD213.5 million from USD213.9 million six months earlier.
DP Aircraft owns four Boeing 787-8 aircraft, leasing two to Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and two to Thai Airways International PLC.
"The lessees have continued to meet their lease obligations. There are no material incidents to bring to the attention of shareholders concerning the operation of the aircraft, inspections have revealed no matters of concern and the Company and group continues to report a healthy performance," said Chair Jon Bridel.
DP Aircraft's pretax profit in the six months to June 30 increased 10% year on year to USD11.7 million versus USD10.6 million. The company's first half lease rental income was flat at USD28.6 million.
DP Aircraft's net finance costs slipped 9.4% to USD4.8 million from USD5.3 million the year before.
Looking ahead, Bridel said: "The outlook for the airline industry for 2019 remains positive, with it being expected to be the tenth year in a row of airline profits according to the International Air Transport Association. However, the organisation downgraded its expectations of global net profits from USD35.5 billion to USD28 billion in 2019. This was largely as a result of slower growth in world trade as well as increasing costs, particularly in fuel, labour and infrastructure."
The company declared two quarterly dividends of USD0.0225 during the period. DP Aircraft targets a quarterly dividend of USD0.0225 - the same as the year before - but stressed investors "should not place any reliance" on the target or "assume that the company will make any distributions at all".
Shares in DP Aircraft closed down 2.0% in London on Monday at USD0.86 each.