Copa Airlines Announces Q1 2020 Profits Of $98.7 Million USD

Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE: CPA), Friday announced financial results for the first quarter of 2020.

Operating & Financial Highlights

• Due to air travel restrictions implemented in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the Company was forced to temporarily suspend all commercial flights on March 22nd, 2020. The Company currently expects to re-start a scaled-down operation on June 1st, 2020, although this date could be delayed as a result of further travel restrictions.
• For 1Q20, Copa Holdings reported net profit of US$74.3 million or earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.75, as compared to net profit of US$89.4 million or earnings per share of US$2.11 in 1Q19.
• Operating profit for 1Q20 came in at US$98.7 million, representing a 12.6% decrease from operating profit of US$112.9 million in 1Q19. Operating margin for 1Q20 came in at 16.6%, compared to an operating margin of 16.8% in 1Q19.
• For 1Q20, consolidated passenger traffic decreased 16.3% on a 14.4% capacity reduction. As a result, consolidated load factor for the quarter decreased 1.9 percentage points to 81.5%.
• Total revenues for 1Q20 decreased 11.4% to US$595.5 million. Yield per passenger mile increased 5.8% to 12.8 cents and RASM came in at 10.8 cents, or 5.8% higher than 1Q19.
• Operating cost per available seat mile (CASM) increased 3.8%, from 8.7 cents in 1Q19 to 9.0 cents in 1Q20. CASM excluding fuel costs increased 8.0% from 6.1 cents in 1Q19 to 6.6 cents in 1Q20, mainly as a result of flight cancellations in March due to the Covid-19 outbreak and, later in the month, the unexpected grounding of the Company´s fleet, resulting in a significant year over year capacity reduction.
• During 1Q20 the Company drew US$145 million from its available short-term lines of credit.
• Cash, short-term and long-term investments ended the quarter at US$ 1.13 billion, representing approximately 43% of the last twelve months’ revenues.
• Copa Holdings ended the quarter with a consolidated fleet of 102 aircraft – 6 Boeing 737MAX9s, 68 Boeing 737-800s, 14 Boeing 737-700s, and 14 Embraer-190s.
• Subsequent Events
• Given the uncertainty related to the Covid-19 crisis, including the effect on future air travel demand, on April 26, 2020 our Board of Directors postponed dividend payments for the remaining quarters of 2020.
• Throughout the month of April, the Company obtained unsecured, committed credit facilities with three local banks, for an aggregate amount of US$150 million dollars. These facilities remain unutilized.
• On April 30, 2020, the Company further bolstered its cash position by successfully closing a US$350 million convertible senior notes offering, maturing in 2025.