AIR.L Regulatory News (AIR)

LEI: 213800JLR6YIRMSCUS98

5 May 2020

AIR PARTNER PLC

("Air Partner", "Company" or "Group")

SHAREHOLDER UPDATE

Air Partner, the global aviation services group, is providing an update on initial trading in the first quarter of the financial year beginning 1 February 2020. This is the third update released during the COVID-19 pandemic and we anticipate communicating to shareholders approximately every four to six weeks during the crisis.

Current trading overview

The Group has had a strong start to the financial year, with the unaudited accounts for February, March and April showing expected underlying profit before tax of £6m. April was a record month, predominantly driven by unusually high levels of activity in Freight and Group Charter. However, as expected, activity in Private Jets and Safety & Security remains notably lower than in previous years, although Redline has recently secured two new security contract wins.

While the forward order book is encouraging as we head into May and June with demand for Freight and Group Charter services remaining high, visibility beyond this is currently limited.

Group Charter

Group Charter has continued to carry out significant repatriation and evacuation work related to the COVID-19 pandemic, flying people back to their home countries from around the world. In addition, the team is involved in flying agricultural workers into the UK from elsewhere in Europe, and has seen increased demand for corporate shuttles from UK and US customers that value their employees travelling in a more controlled environment at this time.

Private Jets

Activity in Private Jets remains very weak, reflecting wider aviation trends as people follow government advice globally against non-essential travel. However, we anticipate some improvement when international airways start to re-open, as some executives and high net worth individuals seek to travel independently and from less busy airports.

Freight

We continue to see high demand for our Freight services. Our team was extremely busy in April, notably flying emergency shipments of protective personal equipment (PPE) on behalf of a number of customers, and this is set to continue into May.

Safety & Security

Our activities in Safety have been adversely impacted by COVID-19, as government restrictions have led to a significant drop in aviation industry activities, resulting in a temporary reduction in demand for training, consulting and quality assurance from our airline and airport customers.

However, Redline recently won a five-year contract with international facilities management company OCS Group UK (OCS) to support Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. Redline will be OCS's internal quality assurance provider, and will also hold responsibility for the security training of all OCS security officers deployed at every court and tribunal in the UK to ensure they meet Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) standards for security searching and screening. In addition, Redline has also won a quality assurance contract with Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur, which becomes the sixth airport in France to use its unique quality assurance testing programme.

Cost management and cash conservation

While we have enjoyed a strong first quarter, we currently have limited visibility beyond the next couple of months. However, we are confident that our teams will maximise any opportunities that arise, as has been the case so far this year, and we continue to manage the business for the long term and in the best interests of all stakeholders. Accordingly, we are managing costs tightly across the Group to preserve cash and maintain our working capital.

At the end of April, the Group has normalised cash in the bank of £13m, excluding significant customer deposits and JetCard cash. The Group has access to a total debt facility of £14.5m, comprising of a £1.5m overdraft and a £13m revolving credit facility (RCF), which is drawn down by £11.5m as at 1 May 2020. The RCF is due to expire in February 2023.  

A further update will be provided with our full year results later this month.

ENDS

About Air Partner:

Founded in 1961, Air Partner is a global aviation services group providing aircraft charter and aviation safety & security solutions to industry, commerce, governments and private individuals, across civil and defence organisations. The Group has two divisions: Air Partner Charter, comprising Group Charter (formerly Commercial Jets), Private Jets, Freight and Remarketing; and Air Partner Safety & Security (formerly Consulting & Training), which comprises Baines Simmons and Redline Assured Security.

Group Charter charters large airliners to move groups of any size. Private Jets offers the Company's unique pre-paid JetCard scheme and on-demand charter for up to 19 people. Freight charters aircraft of every size to fly almost any cargo anywhere, at any time. Air Partner Remarketing provides comprehensive remarketing programmes for all types of commercial and corporate aircraft to a wide range of international customers.

Baines Simmons offers Aviation Safety Management, Fatigue Risk Management, Air Traffic Services, Wildlife Hazard Management and Aircraft Registry Services. Redline Assured Security delivers government-standard security training and solutions.

Air Partner has 16 locations across three continents, with its headquarters located alongside Gatwick airport in the UK. The group employs around 450 aviation professionals globally and operates 24/7. Air Partner is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIR) and is the only publicly listed air charter broker and aviation safety & security consultancy. It is ISO 9001:2015 compliant for commercial airline and private jet solutions worldwide.

More information is available on the company's website (www.airpartner.com).