Sun Country Airlines Reports Third Quarter 2023 Results

Revenue of $249 million, highest third quarter on record⁽¹⁾
GAAP diluted EPS of $0.13 and operating income of $19 million
Adj. diluted EPS⁽²⁾ of $0.14 and adjusted operating income⁽²⁾ of $20 million_,

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sun Country Airlines Holdings, Inc. (“Sun Country Airlines,” “Sun Country,” the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SNCY) today reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

“Sun Country’s diversified business model continued to deliver strong results in the third quarter, as evidenced by our strong GAAP operating results and our third consecutive quarter of year over year improvement in adjusted operating margin, adjusted pre-tax margin and adjusted earnings per share,” said Jude Bricker, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Country. “Total revenue was up by 12.3% versus the third quarter 2022 and we produced GAAP operating income of $19 million, operating margin of 7.6%, and adjusted operating margin⁽²⁾ of 8.1% for the quarter. The revenue environment continues to stay healthy as demonstrated by scheduled service TRASM⁽³⁾ declining only 5.0%, while scheduled service ASMs grew 15.1%. This helped to drive GAAP diluted EPS of $0.13 and Adjusted diluted EPS⁽²⁾ of $0.14 in the third quarter. In addition to our excellent performance, our board of directors has authorized an additional $25 million for repurchases of Sun Country shares.”

Overview of Third Quarter

For the quarter ended September 30, 2023, Sun Country reported net income of $8 million and income before income tax of $10 million, on $249 million of revenue. Adjusted income before income tax⁽²⁾ for the quarter was $11 million. GAAP operating income during the quarter was $19 million, while adjusted operating income⁽²⁾ was $20 million, operating margin was 7.6% and adjusted operating margin⁽²⁾ was 8.1%_.

“For the fourth consecutive quarter, we have seen year-over-year revenue growth across our scheduled service, charter and cargo businesses,” said Dave Davis, President and Chief Financial Officer. “Year-to-date, we have continued to see unit revenue strength with scheduled service TRASM⁽³⁾ up 13.6% versus the same time period last year, and we do not see demand abating through the rest of 2023. Sun Country continues to generate strong margins and our outlook for 2024 capital expenditures falls sharply from 2023 levels driving an expected, significant increase in free cash flow next year⁽⁴⁾. As such, our board of directors has authorized another $25 million to repurchase Sun Country shares. This is on top of the $80 million that has already been used to repurchase shares. Since November 2022, we have repurchased 4.7 million shares of Sun Country common stock.”

Notable Highlights

• Announced the extension of our schedule through September 10, 2024 including eight new domestic seasonal nonstop routes from Minneapolis and new flying to Montreal and Toronto Canada (pending final approval from the Canadian airports).
• The Company repurchased 2.1 million shares at an average price of $15.30 during the third quarter. The board of directors approved an additional $25 million of buyback authority which brings the current repurchase authorization to $25 million.

Capacity

System block hours flown during the third quarter of 2023 grew by 14.4% year-over-year. Cargo block hours grew in the third quarter by 6.3% year-over-year as Amazon flying was constrained last year due to scheduled maintenance events. Scheduled service block hours and charter block hours increased by 17.6% and 14.1%, respectively year-over-year on a 14.1% increase in average passenger aircraft.

Charter block hours under long-term contracts comprised 82.2% of the total charter flying performed in the third quarter of 2023. As the Company continues to normalize its aircraft utilization, it intends to pursue more ad-hoc charter flying.

Revenue

For the third quarter of 2023, the Company reported total revenue of $249 million, which was 12.3% more than the third quarter of 2022. The Company’s scheduled service TRASM⁽³⁾ of 11.72 cents in the third quarter of 2023 decreased 5.0% year-over-year, while scheduled service ASMs increased 15.1%. The third quarter 2023 total fare per scheduled passenger of $153 was lower than third quarter 2022 by 8.7% as scheduled service revenue passengers grew 19.9%. As a component of total fare, ancillary revenue per passenger continues to show strength at $65, a growth rate of 16.9% versus the same time period last year. In the third quarter of 2023, the Company’s charter service revenue was $47 million, an increase of 10.6% year-over-year. On a rate basis, third quarter 2023 charter revenue per block hour was 3.1% lower than the rate in the third quarter of 2022 as lower fuel prices reduced the fuel reimbursement amount that we received from our charter customers.

In the third quarter of 2023, cargo revenue was $26 million, a 10.0% increase versus the third quarter of 2022. The variance was primarily driven by a 6.3% increase in block hours and the annual rate escalation which went into effect in mid-December 2022.

Cost

For the third quarter of 2023, total GAAP operating expenses increased 11.4% year-over-year, primarily due to a 23.7% increase in salaries, wages, and benefits and a 39.1% increase in maintenance expense. Fuel expense decreased by 5.7% compared to third quarter 2022. This combination drove adjusted CASM⁽⁵⁾ in the third quarter to increase 2.6% versus the third quarter 2022.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Total liquidity⁽⁶⁾ was $198 million on September 30, 2023, while the Company’s net debt⁽⁷⁾ was $544 million.

Fleet

As of September 30, 2023, the Company had 42 aircraft in its passenger service fleet, operated 12 freighter aircraft in its cargo operation, and had five aircraft held for operating lease.

Guidance for Fourth Quarter 2023

Conference Call & Webcast Details

Sun Country Airlines will host a conference call to discuss its third quarter 2023 results at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. A live broadcast of the conference call will be available via the investor relations section of Sun Country Airlines’ website at https://ir.suncountry.com/news-events/events-and-presentations. The online replay will be available on the same website approximately one hour after the call.

About Sun Country Airlines

Sun Country Airlines is a new breed of hybrid low-cost air carrier that dynamically deploys shared resources across our synergistic scheduled service, charter and cargo businesses. Based in Minnesota, we focus on serving leisure and visiting friends and relatives ("VFR") passengers and charter customers and providing cargo services, with flights throughout the United States and to destinations in Mexico, Central America, Canada, and the Caribbean.

End Notes

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are generally identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and, in each case, their negative or other various or comparable terminology. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans, objectives of management, and expected market growth are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are relating to:

• our strategy, outlook and growth prospects;

• our operational and financial targets and dividend policy;

• general economic trends and trends in the industry and markets;

• potential repurchases of our common stock; and

• the competitive environment in which we operate.

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements reflect our views with respect to future events as of the date of this press release and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or review publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this press release. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. You should read this press release completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures, or investments we may undertake. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. Additional information concerning certain factors is contained in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the Company’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We sometimes use information that is derived from the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, but that is not presented in accordance with GAAP. We believe these non-GAAP measures provide a meaningful comparison of our results to others in the airline industry and our prior year results. Investors should consider these non-GAAP financial measures in addition to, and not as a substitute for, our financial performance measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Further, our non-GAAP information may be different from the non-GAAP information provided by other companies. We believe certain charges included in our operating expenses on a GAAP basis make it difficult to compare our current period results to prior periods as well as future periods and guidance. The tables below show a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures used in this document to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

The following tables presents key operating statistics and metrics for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022.

1 – See note 3 in end notes

2 – See note 4 in end notes

“NM” stands for not meaningful

1 – See note 3 in end notes

2 – See note 4 in end notes

“NM” stands for not meaningful

“NM” stands for not meaningful

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Income Margin, Adjusted Income Before Income Tax, Adjusted Pre-tax Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income per Share, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Income Margin, Adjusted Income Before Income Tax, Adjusted Pre-tax Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income per share, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are non-GAAP measures included as supplemental disclosure because we believe they are useful indicators of our operating performance. Derivations of Operating Income and Net Income are well recognized performance measurements in the airline industry that are frequently used by our management, as well as by investors, securities analysts and other interested parties in comparing the operating performance of companies in our industry.

The measures described above have limitations as analytical tools. Some of the limitations applicable to these measures include: they do not reflect the impact of certain cash and non-cash charges resulting from matters we consider not to be indicative of our ongoing operations; and other companies in our industry may calculate these non-GAAP measures differently than we do, limiting each measure’s usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, the following non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP and may not be the same as or comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies due to the possible differences in the method of calculation and in the items being adjusted.

For the aforementioned reasons, Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted Operating Income Margin, Adjusted Income Before Income Tax, Adjusted Pre-tax Margin, Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Net Income per Share, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin have significant limitations which affect their use as indicators of our profitability. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information.

Adjusted CASM

Adjusted CASM is a non-GAAP measure derived from CASM by excluding fuel costs, costs related to our cargo operations, stock based compensation, depreciation recognized on our aircraft and flight equipment held for operating lease, certain commissions and other costs of selling our vacations product from this measure as these costs are unrelated to our airline operations and improve comparability to our peers. Adjusted CASM is an important measure used by management and by our board of directors in assessing quarterly and annual cost performance. Adjusted CASM is also a measure commonly used by industry analysts and we believe it is an important metric by which they compare our airline to others in the industry, although other airlines may exclude certain other costs in their calculation of Adjusted CASM. The measure is also the subject of frequent questions from investors.

Adjusted CASM excludes fuel costs. By excluding volatile fuel costs that are outside of our control from our unit metrics, we believe that we have better visibility into the results of operations and our non-fuel cost initiatives. Our industry is highly competitive and is characterized by high fixed costs, so even a small reduction in non-fuel operating costs can lead to a significant improvement in operating results. In addition, we believe that all domestic carriers are similarly impacted by changes in jet fuel costs over the long run, so it is important for management and investors to understand the impact and trends in company-specific cost drivers, such as labor rates, aircraft and maintenance costs, and productivity, which are more controllable by management.

We have excluded costs related to the cargo operations and depreciation recognized on our aircraft and flight equipment held for operating lease as these operations do not create ASMs. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company acquired five 737-900ERs that are currently on lease to an unaffiliated airline. Depreciation expense on these aircraft materially began during the three months ended June 30, 2023. Adjusted CASM further excludes other adjustments, as defined in the relevant reporting period, that are not representative of the ongoing costs necessary to our airline operations and may improve comparability between periods. We also exclude stock compensation expense when computing Adjusted CASM. The Company’s compensation strategy includes the use of stock-based compensation to attract and retain employees and executives and is principally aimed at aligning their interests with those of our stockholders and at long-term employee retention, rather than to motivate or reward operational performance for any particular period. Thus, stock-based compensation expense varies for reasons that are generally unrelated to operational decisions and performance in any period.

As derivations of Adjusted CASM are not determined in accordance with GAAP, such measures are susceptible to varying calculations and not all companies calculate the measures in the same manner. As a result, derivations of Adjusted CASM as presented may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Adjusted CASM should not be considered in isolation or as a replacement for CASM. For the aforementioned reasons, Adjusted CASM has significant limitations which affect its use as an indicator of our profitability. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this information.

Contacts

Investor Relations
IR@suncountry.com

Media
mediarelations@suncountry.com