Financial highlights:
Underlying PBT of £4.3m, an increase of 64%
Underlying EPS of 29.7p, an increase of 7%, lower than the increase in underlying PBT due to non-recurrence of last year's credits and a non-recurring US tax item. Excluding this, underlying EPS would have been 33.1p
Statutory PBT rose by 20% to £3.2m after £1.1m of other items
Total cash balances including JetCard deposits of £19.8m (£18.8m)
Group cash (excluding JetCard deposits) of £3.0m (£4.7m), following acquisitions (£2.3m net) and working capital movements
Net debt, excluding JetCard cash, of £0.5m equivalent to 0.1x EBITDA
Proposed final dividend of 16.9p up 10.0%, taking the total for the year to 24.3p
Positive start to the new year
Operating highlights:
Commercial Jets delivered a strong performance, particularly in the UK and with a solid performance in Europe but as with the first half, the US was below expectations
Private Jets in the UK performed exceptionally well, Europe was stable and the US was slightly below expectations
Freight doubled its profits, performing particularly well in Germany and the UK
JetCard utilisation up by 33%
Strategic highlights:
After successful trials, our Customer First programme has been rolled-out across the global broking business
Acquisition of Cabot Aviation Services Limited, a leading Aircraft Remarketing company, announced in May 2015 for a net consideration of up to £0.8m
Acquisition of Baines Simmons Limited, a world leader in Aviation Safety Consulting, announced in August 2015 for a net cash consideration of £5.3m
Dividend policy announced targeting cover between 1.5 and 2.0 times
Mark Briffa, CEO of Air Partner, commented: "Our full-year performance is a testament to all of those who work at Air Partner and shows that by putting our Customer First we can deliver good trading and positive momentum, the benefits of which we are already seeing in the new financial year. The acquisition of Cabot Aviation and Baines Simmons are exciting opportunities for Air Partner to extend the Group's service and product capabilities and should enhance our customer proposition."
