Yahoo Finance

• Total Revenue (Q4 2024): $152.8 million

• Total Revenue (Full Year 2024): $569.2 million

• Pre-Tax Income (Q4 2024): $30.4 million

• Pre-Tax Income (Full Year 2024): $152.6 million

• Return on Equity (2024): 21%

• Core Lease Rent Revenues (2024): $238.2 million

• Interest Revenues (2024): $11.7 million

• Maintenance Reserve Revenues (2024): $213.9 million

• Spare Parts and Equipment Sales (2024): $27.1 million

• Gain on Sale of Lease Equipment (2024): $45.1 million

• Net Income Attributable to Common Shareholders (2024): $104.4 million

• Diluted Weighted Average Income Per Share (2024): $15.34

• Cash Flow from Operations (2024): $284.4 million

• Total Debt Obligations (Year-End 2024): $2.3 billion

• Leverage Ratio (Q4 2024): 3.48 times

• Quarterly Dividend (February 2025): $0.25 per share

• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with WLFC.

Release Date: March 10, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

• Willis Lease Finance Corp (NASDAQ:WLFC) achieved a record year in 2024 with a pre-tax income of $152.6 million, up 127% from the previous year.

• The company reported a strong return on equity of 21%, marking its strongest year as a publicly traded company.

• WLFC successfully returned capital to shareholders through dividends, including a special dividend and regular quarterly dividends.

• The company acquired nearly $1 billion in engines and aircraft, focusing on future technology assets like LEAP and GTF engines.

• WLFC's ConstantThrust program continues to gain traction, providing significant savings for customers and creating value through efficient asset management.

Negative Points

• The company faced increased general and administrative expenses, rising to $146.8 million in 2024, driven by personnel costs and share-based compensation.

• Net finance costs increased to $104.8 million due to higher indebtedness and rising interest rates.

• The company experienced a $11.2 million write-down of equipment, with $10.4 million occurring in the fourth quarter.

• Gross margins for maintenance services were slightly negative at minus 1% due to the build-out of fixed base operator services.

• The absence of a test cell in WLFC's repair facilities may pose challenges in engine testing and availability of slots.

Q & A Highlights

Q: Can you update us on the engine market and what you're seeing in terms of values? Have they stabilized or continued to rise? A: Austin Willis, CEO: We've seen a strong engine market, both in whole engine assets and parts. There's some scarcity in originating transactions, but we've been successful in originating deals. Our pipeline is robust, and we're able to offer added advantages to customers, like the ConstantThrust transaction, which helps bridge maintenance gaps for airlines.