DAE chief hails ‘terrific’ year despite Covid-19

Aircraft lessor and MRO provider Dubai Aerospace Enterprise enjoyed a “home-run year” in 2020, CE Firoz Tarapore has asserted, as its diversified customer base and strong liquidity position softened the impact of the pandemic. Pre-tax profits to end-December 2020 declined to $250m from $413m in 2019, on the back of weaker earnings from its leasing business. Revenue fell to $1.3b from $1.4b, while total assets declined to $12.7b from $13.5b. Despite these declines, Tarapore describes the year as “pretty terrific” given the wider challenges faced by the sector, noting that the company increased the number of aircraft on its books and entered into a “very large number of lease transactions” with customers. While leasing rates fell, so did DAE’s cost of finance, offsetting part of the decline. “When we look at the deal, we look at returns, not headline rates… Returns are OK and have not contracted as much as headline lease rates have done,” Tarapore said during a Wednesday results call.<br/>