Willis Lease Finance Corporation

And welcome to the Willis News Finance Corporation TSU 2025 earnings call. Today's conference is being recorded. We would like to remind you that during this conference call, management will be making forward-looking statements, including statements regarding our expectations related to financial guidance, outlook for the company, and our expected investment and growth initiatives. Please note these forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions. which are subject to risks and uncertainties. These statements reflect WLSD's views only as of today. They should not be relied upon as representatives of views as of any subsequent date, and WLSD undertakes no obligation to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to use forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. For further discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could affect WLSU's financial results, please refer to its filing with the SEC, including, without limitation, WLSU's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, annual report on Form 10-K, and other periodic reports which are available on the Investor Relations section of the WLSC website at https://www.wlsc.global/.investor-relations. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Austin Willis, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss our second quarter 2025 financial results. On our call today, I'm joined by Scott Flaherty, our Chief Financial Officer, and Brian Hull, our President. First and foremost, I'd like to emphasize that this was a record-setting quarter for the company. We achieved our highest ever quarterly total revenue, $195.5 million. an increase of 29.4% over the same period last year. This achievement highlights the continued strength of the aviation marketplace, our platform, and our portfolio. Airlines increasingly rely on our leasing, parts, and maintenance solutions to avoid costly and time-consuming engine shop visits, helping to drive the recurring revenues that are the foundation of our business. Our steady performance has enabled us to expand our business while returning capital to our shareholders. One year ago, we announced the policy of paying a common quarterly dividend. And last week, the board declared our fifth consecutive quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share. Scott will provide a deeper look at our financials. So, I would like to turn to what we accomplished in the quarter. The momentum from the beginning of the year continues. despite any lingering concerns related to tariffs and the impact on trade and economic growth. As we've said in the past, we have designed a robust and durable business model that we believe can generate premium returns across the economic cycle and under a wide variety of market conditions. Fundamentally, the increasing expense of new engines makes leasing a compelling strategy for obtaining spare engines, while our maintenance capabilities offer an attractive alternative for airline operators relative to more conventional maintenance solutions. Additionally, our position as a leading engine-focused lessor is supported by our premium, differentiated asset portfolio, coupled with our integrated maintenance and materials capabilities, as well as our deep relationships with aviation operators, OEMs, and other key market participants. We continue to see positive trends and strength in our core leasing business. The yield of our portfolio, as defined by lease and interest revenue plus maintenance reserve revenue divided by net book value, is in the high teens. This is attributable to numerous factors, not least of which is our lease rental factor of 1.01% and the steady growth of our utilization from 82% in the end of June last year to 86% at the end of March 2025 to 88% at the end of June 2025. Operationally, the quarter's results are a testament to the dedication and expertise of our team and the successful execution of our strategic initiatives. It's been a busy quarter for us. We purchased or sold 31 engines and four airframes. We completed our largest ever engine ABS, which also achieved our tightest pricing to date. We did our sixth Choco. We began to see results from our lean business system called SOAR. We received over $6 million in grant proceeds from the UK government for our staff initiative, and we entered into a contract with Safran to build a test cell facility. Our services are well aligned with the industry's direction of travel as more airlines seek to avoid complexity in favor of a simple operating model to drive efficiency and optimize their businesses. Airlines increasingly rely on our leasing, parts, and maintenance solutions to achieve those objectives by avoiding costly and time-consuming shop visits and maintaining large in-house maintenance capabilities. I'd like to go into more detail on some of these recent accomplishments. Earlier this year, we launched SOAR, our lean business system built around strategy, operations, actions, and results to ensure we scale efficiently while maintaining the high-quality service and products our customers expect. As we grow, SOAR helps us expand operating margins, improve delivery timelines, and attract and retain top talent. Over the past nine months, we have identified and eliminated waste across critical processes. These efforts have already delivered measurable results. For example, an 85% reduction in time from engine acquisition to lease readiness. And we are starting to see faster lease closings because of simplified workflows. Our quarterly earnings this period were influenced by a few distinct factors. changes in the way we grant stock-based compensation going forward, the increase in our share price and its effect on our 2024 stock-based compensation plan, the transition to a new general counsel, and the sale of our consulting business. As announced earlier in the quarter, we incurred costs related to the departure of our previous general counsel. Saying that, I'm pleased to announce that Cliff Dameron has been appointed GC. Cliff joined us in 2024 from Carlisle Aviation Partners. His experience in aviation and private equity and establishing investment vehicles is proving invaluable as we look to grow our assets under management. Collectively, two of these items led to an increase in SG&A in the second quarter, and I highlight these points to help investors look past these one-off impacts that Scott will address in more detail shortly. and focus on the continued strength of our underlying operating performance. Additionally, we sold our consulting and advisory business, Bridge End Asset Management, to Willis Mitsui & Company Engine Support Limited, our existing joint venture with Mitsui & Company. We purchased this business in 2016 and has since grown it considerably in revenue and capabilities. This business is an important part of our differentiated offering in that we rely upon their expertise to guide us on insourcing maintenance risk, particularly as it pertains to constant thrust, where we recently signed another agreement with Air India for 26 EFM56-7B engines. We believe our close collaboration with Mitsui and Company strengthens our platform overall, and the combined ownership will help drive further growth in both the consulting business and the joint venture more generally. This allows us to maintain the same strategic benefits we enjoyed as 100% owners of the consulting business in a way that drives a superior return to our shareholders by bringing in third-party equity and fees without diluting shareholders. Subsequent to the quarter end in July, we announced that our subsidiary, Willis Aviation Services Limited, secured a commitment from leading leisure airline JetFu.com for two base maintenance lines for the upcoming season. Both maintenance lines will be carried out at our Teesside facility, reflecting the demand we referenced earlier and our commitment to serving that demand while creating skilled jobs in the UK aerospace industry. We look forward to updating you on our expansion in the region in quarters and years to come. A few other positive developments I'd like to touch on are tariffs and taxes. We are encouraged by what appears to be an agreement between the US and the EU to have a zero-tariff policy between each for aircraft and aircraft parts, of which engines qualify. We feel that this is a positive development for the US and the EU. as well as ourselves, who historically have benefited from the frictionless movement of assets across borders. Additionally, changes regarding the treatment of depreciation and interest in the Big Beautiful Bill are expected to benefit us over the long term. Lastly, I'd like to especially recognize the great work of our finance department and banks in executing West 8, our most recent and largest ADF, which closed during the second quarter and is priced inside of the other aviation leasing securitizations coming out around the same time. This is a testament to the market's confidence in our business and the strength of our platform. As we look ahead, we are confident that our operational excellence and commitment to innovation will continue to position WLRC for further growth and value creation. And with that, I'll hand it over to Scott Flaherty, our CFO. to discuss our financial performance in greater depth.

Thank you, Austin, and good morning, all. We close out the first half of 2025 with a solid second quarter performance, where the business produced record quarterly revenues of $195.5 million, up 29% from the comparable period in 2024. Record earnings before taxes, or EBT, for the quarter of $74.3 million. up 28.3% from the comparable period in 2024. Net income attributable to common shareholders of $59 million for the quarter, up 41.5% from the comparable period in 2024, and yet another quarterly record for the business. Continued strong core lease rent and maintenance reserve revenues at trading profits, all enhanced by our vertically integrated service offerings, as well as the recognized value creation associated through the sale of our bridge-end asset management consultancy business through our Willis-Mitsui joint venture, were the key drivers to our profitability for the quarter. Walking through the P&L, as it relates to the top line, core lease rent revenue for the quarter was $72.3 million, up 29.4% from the prior comparable period, and interest revenue was which reflects interest income on long-term loan-like financings, was $3.6 million, up 59.8% from the prior comparable period. So relative growth we see from the comparable quarter in 2024 was driven by an increase in our equipment held per operating lease, which sits at $2.61 billion as of June 30, 2025, as well as growth in our long-term loan-like financings portfolio. Our total owned portfolio is reflected on our balance sheet as equipment held for operating lease, maintenance rates, notes receivable, and investment and sales type leases, which aggregates at $2.83 billion. Average portfolio utilization was 87.2% for the quarter, compared to 83% in the comparable period of 2024. Utilization has been trending up. and we ended the second quarter at a utilization rate of 88.3%. We discussed on our last earnings call how we were getting our Q4 2024 new GCF purchases on lease, and we are seeing the effects of our efforts in the P&L. Lease rate factors for the portfolio were in line with the comparable period of 2024 at 1.0%. Maintenance reserve revenues for the quarter were $50.7 million. down $12.2 million from the prior comparable period, but showing relative strength as you peel back the numbers. Short-term maintenance reserve revenues associated with the cyclical and hourly usage of our engines came in at $50.2 million, up 9.5% or $4.4 million from the comparable quarter in 2024, as we continue to see more engines, specifically of the current generation vintage, out with short-term lease conditions. And long-term maintenance revenues associated with engines coming off lease and the associated release of any maintenance reserve liabilities came in at $0.5 million compared to $17 million in the comparable prior period. Fair parts and equipment sales to third parties increased by $24.2 million, worth 391%. to $30.4 million in Q2 2025, compared to $6.2 million in the comparable prior period. This increase was related to equipment sales of $21.1 million in the quarter, representing the sale of one engine where there was no equipment sales in the comparative prior period. Equipment sales represent the pure trading of an asset that has not been placed on lease. These sales were reflected on a gross revenue basis in our P&L. Margin on equipment sales were 6.4%. Spare parts sales of $9.2 million were up 3.1 million or 49.3% from the comparable period in 2024. Margins on spare parts sales for the quarter came in at 9.8%. Lofty, a spare parts business, provides valuable feedback in a tight parts market. supporting both the Lewis and our customers' fleets. The recycling of these spare parts often occurs at one of our two engine MRO facilities, which are located in Coconut Creek, Florida, and Bridgen, Wales. Gain on sale of lease equipment, a net revenue metric, was $27.6 million in the second quarter, up 13.2 million or 91.2% from the comparable period. This gain was associated with gross equipment sales of $91.1 million, less economic closing adjustments. Included in this gain was the sale of 14 engines and two airplanes. The 30% margin realized on these sales is reflective of the unrealized value we have in our engine portfolio. Trading is an important part of our business and keeps our portfolio relevant and provides capital to build our portfolio. Maintenance services revenue, which represents fleet management, engine and aircraft storage and repair services, and revenues related to management of fixed-base operator services, increased by $1.3 million to $8 million in the second quarter of 2025. Gross margins were a negative 7% as we are in the build-out stages of our aircraft line and base maintenance business. Our maintenance service offerings create lease opportunities for our business, and enable a more efficient lease process through vertical integration. On the expense side of the equation, depreciation and amortization was up $5.4 million in Q2 to $27.6 million as compared to the prior year. Growth and depreciation was primarily attributed to portfolio growth and new off-lease assets going on initial lease, which starts their depreciation cycle through the P&L. To a lesser extent, this increase was related to depreciation associated with shop visit investments, which start a slightly more accelerated depreciation schedule as shop visit investments are depreciated over a shorter time frame. Write-down of equipment was $11.5 million for the quarter, representing impairment on six engines, four of which were moved to hell for sale. G&A was 50.4 million in the second quarter, up 15.7 million compared to 34.7 million in the comparable period in 2024. Increases in the overall G&A spend were mainly related to a $15 million increase to personnel expenses, of which 12.6 million was due to share-based compensation. Of this 12.6 million, $5.3 million was associated with the departure of our former general counsel and an acceleration in his share of estates. $5.0 million was related to our April 2025 grant, which was awarded under our prior LTEA program and linked to 2024 performance. For 2025, we have modified the LTEA plan following the significant stock price appreciation in 2024, and have granted awards in January of 2025, which are subject to service and ongoing performance-based metrics. And $2.2 million of the increase was related to wage growth due to increased staffing associated with the growth of the business, and $2.2 million was due to increased legal fees. These cost increases were partially offset by the receipt of $6.3 million of government grant proceeds associated with our staff program, which we were awarded in October of 2024. Technical expense, which consists of non-capitalized repairs, engine thrust rental fees, outboard technical support services, sublease engine rental expense, engine storage and freight costs, increased by $3 million, to $7.5 million in the second quarter compared to $4.5 million in the prior year period. This increase was primarily due to an increased level of engine repair activity. Net finance costs, which were $33.6 million in the second quarter compared to $24.6 million in the comparable period of 2024. The increase in costs was primarily related to an increase in indebtedness. as total debt obligations increased from $1.95 billion at June 2024 to $2.8 billion at June 2025. A significant portion of the increase in total balance sheet debt was associated with the late Q2 2025 ADX capital raise, which will have a temporary effect on leverage as well as restricted cash until such time as the beneficial interests in our engines associated with this transaction are transferred permanently. to our new financing. In the second quarter, the company recognized $43 million gains on the sale of our Bridgend Asset Management consulting business to our joint venture, Willis Mitsui. This transaction allowed the company to recognize the substantial value created in our consulting business, which we purchased in 2016. Build further substance in our JV partnership with Mitsui and freed up capital to grow our core leasing business while still maintaining access to the consulting capabilities of the BAML business through our 50% ownership interest in our Willis-Mitsui joint venture. Concurrent with this sale, we made an incremental $22.5 million investment in our Willis-Mitsui joint venture. The company also picked up $3.1 million in rentable earnings from our 50% ownership interest in our Willis-Mitsui and Catholic Willis Joint Ventures. EDT for the quarter was $74.3 million, up 28.3% from the comparable period in 2024. Income tax expense was $13.9 million, an ATR of 18.7%, which was influenced by the favorable tax treatment of our gain on the family sale to Willis Mitsui. The company produced $59 million of net income attributable to common shareholders, which factors in gap taxes and the cost of our preferred equity. Diluted weighted average income per share was $8.43 in the second quarter of 2025. Net cash provided by operating activities was $145.2 million in the first half of 2025, as compared to $129.7 million in the first half of 2024. The increase was predominantly related to a large disparity in working capital as inventory went from a 40.7 million use to an 8.9 million sorts of cash, partially offset by a $22 million decrease in payments on sales-type leases and a 10.9 million decrease in cash flows from changes in account payable and accrued expenses. Cash flows from investing were a negative 2.2 million in the first half of the year, Contributing to this were $155 million of equipment purchases and $17 million of purchases of PP&A, offset by $142 million of proceeds from the sale of equipment, as well as $23.1 million of net proceeds from our sale of the BAML business. On the financing and capital structure side of the business, the company completed its sixth GELCO financing in April, for $19.8 million, bringing total Joe Coe financings at quarter end to approximately $125 million. In June, the company accessed the ADF market and raised its eighth ADF financing, less eight, raising $596 million in aggregate principal amount of fixed-rate notes. This transaction was a two-trash debt offering representing the largest ABS financing the company has done to date. The transaction was well oversubscribed during its marketing and priced the tightest spread the company has achieved to date, demonstrating the strong demand our business model has generated in the structured debt markets. Subsequent to quarter end, we amended and extended our $500 million warehouse facility to provide the company with more favorable asset advance rates, reduced borrowing costs, and extensions of the commitment period and final repayment date to May 3, 2027 and May 3, 2028, respectively. As a specialty finance company, Willis-Leach regularly accesses the capital market as we look to source surprisingly priced capital to continue to grow our balance sheet and P&L. In May, we paid our fourth consecutive regular quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share. Subsequent to quarter end, we declared our fifth consecutive regular quarterly dividend, which is expected to be paid on August 21, 2025, to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 12, 2025. We believe that our ability to pay a recurring dividend speaks to the health of the business and provides our shareholders with a moderate current cash yield on their investment while not degrading the strong cash flow characteristics and equity growth as a business, which supports our overall growth. With respect to leverage, as defined as total debt obligations, net of cash and restricted cash, to equity, inclusive of preferred stock, our leverage ticked lower to 2.96 times as compared to 3.48 times at year-end 2024. The flexibility of our capital structure, our liquidity, due to our $1 billion credit facility and $500 million warehouse facility, as well as our current leverage profile, provides us the flexibility to quickly and opportunistically access the market as we look to continue to build our lease portfolio and provide the best and most creative solutions to our customers. With that, I will now open the call for questions. Operator? Operator?