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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

☒Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018

 

☐Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Commission File Number: 001-15369

 

WILLIS LEASE FINANCE CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (415) 408-4700

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.   Yes ☐  No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.   Yes ☐  No  ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.   Yes ☒  No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).   Yes ☒  No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter)  is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendments to this Form 10-K.  ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes ☐  No ☒

 

The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter (June 30, 2018) was approximately $102.2 million (based on a closing sale price of $31.59 per share as reported on the NASDAQ National Market).

 

The number of shares of the registrant’s Common Stock outstanding as of March 11, 2019 was 5,793,255.

 

The Company’s Proxy Statement for the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

 

 

 

 

WILLIS LEASE FINANCE CORPORATION
2018 FORM 10-K ANNUAL REPORT

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

PART I

 

ITEM 1.BUSINESS

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Willis Lease Finance Corporation with its subsidiaries (“WLFC”) is a leading lessor and servicer of commercial aircraft and aircraft engines. Our principal business objective is to build value for our shareholders by acquiring commercial aircraft and engines and managing those assets in order to provide a return on investment, primarily through lease rent and maintenance reserve revenues, as well as through management fees earned for managing assets owned by other parties. As of December 31, 2018, we had a total lease portfolio consisting of 244 engines and related equipment, 17 aircraft and 10 other leased parts and equipment with 81 lessees in 47 countries with an aggregate net book value of $1,673.1 million. In addition to our owned portfolio, as of December 31, 2018, we managed a total lease portfolio of 440 engines, aircraft and related equipment for other parties.

 

In 2013, we launched Willis Aeronautical Services, Inc. (“Willis Aero”), a wholly-owned subsidiary, whose primary focus is the sale of aircraft engine parts and materials through the acquisition or consignment from third parties of aircraft and engines. 

 

In 2016, we purchased, through our wholly owned subsidiary Willis Asset Management Limited (“Willis Asset Management”), the business and assets of Total Engine Support Limited (“TES”).  TES was the engine management and consulting business of the TES Aviation Group. Willis Asset Management had 404 engines, excluding WLFC engines, under management as of December 31, 2018.

 

We are a Delaware corporation, incorporated in 1996. Our executive offices are located at 4700 Lyons Technology Parkway, Coconut Creek, Florida 33073. We transact business directly and through our subsidiaries unless otherwise indicated.

 

We maintain a website at www.willislease.com where our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports are available without charge, as soon as reasonably practicable following the time they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s public reference room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0300. The SEC also maintains an electronic Internet site that contains our reports, proxies and information statements, and other information at http://www.sec.gov.

 

We separate our business into two reportable segments, Leasing and Related Operations and Spare Parts Sales. Our business activities by reportable segment are described below.

 

Leasing and Related Operations

 

Our strategy is to lease aircraft and aircraft engines and provide related services to a diversified group of commercial aircraft operators and maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations (“MROs”) worldwide. Commercial aircraft operators need engines in addition to those installed on the aircraft that they operate. These spare engines are required for various reasons including requirements that engines be inspected and repaired at regular intervals based on equipment utilization. Furthermore, unscheduled events such as mechanical failure, Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) airworthiness directives or manufacturer-recommended actions for maintenance, repair and overhaul of engines result in the need for spare engines. Commercial aircraft operators and others in the industry generally estimate that the total number of spare engines needed is between 10% and 14% of the total number of installed engines. Industry research suggests that there are nearly 45,000 engines installed on commercial aircraft. Accordingly, it is estimated that there are 4,500 spare engines in the market, including both owned and leased spare engines.

 

Our engine portfolio consists of noise-compliant Stage IV commercial jet engines manufactured by CFMI, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce and International Aero Engines. These engines generally may be used on one or

more aircraft types and are the most widely used engines in the world, powering Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer aircraft.

 

The Company acquires engines for its leasing portfolio in a number of ways. It enters into sale and lease back transactions with operators of aircraft and providers of engine maintenance cost per hour services. We also purchase both new and used engines that are subject to a lease when purchased and on a speculative basis (i.e. without a lease attached from manufacturers or other parties which own such engines).

 

Total revenues from our Leasing and Related Operations reportable segment was 88.2%, 89.1% and 92.8% of the respective total consolidated revenue for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Spare Parts Sales

 

Our wholly owned subsidiary Willis Aero primarily engages in the sale of aircraft engine parts and materials through the acquisition or consignment of engines from third parties or from the leasing portfolio. The launch of this business segment in 2013 positioned our Company to provide end-of-life solutions for the growing supply of surplus aircraft and engines. With the establishment of Willis Aero, we are able to manage the full lifecycle of our lease assets, enhance the returns on our engine portfolio and create incremental value for our shareholders.

 

INDUSTRY BACKGROUND - THE DEMAND FOR LEASED AIRCRAFT ENGINES

 

Historically, commercial aircraft operators owned rather than leased their spare engines. As engines become more powerful and technically sophisticated, they also become more expensive to acquire and maintain. In part due to cash constraints on commercial aircraft operators and the costs associated with engine ownership, commercial aircraft operators have become more cost-conscious and now utilize operating leases for a portion of their spare engines and are therefore better able to manage their finances in this capital-intensive business. Engine leasing is a specialized business that has evolved into a discrete sector of the commercial aviation market. Participants in this sector need access to capital, as well as specialized technical knowledge, in order to compete successfully.

 

Growth in the spare engine leasing industry is dependent on two fundamental drivers:

 

 

 

We believe both drivers will increase over time.

 

Increased number of aircraft, and therefore engines, in the market

 

We believe that the number of commercial and cargo aircraft, and hence spare engines, will increase. Boeing projects 4.7% annual growth in the global commercial jet fleet, doubling the current fleet to over 42,000 aircraft by 2037. Aircraft equipment manufacturers have predicted such an increase in aircraft to address the rapid growth of both passenger and cargo traffic in the Asian markets, as well as demand for new aircraft in more mature markets.

 

Increased lease penetration rate

 

Spare engines provide support for installed engines in the event of routine or other engine maintenance or unscheduled removal. The number of spare engines needed to service any fleet is determined by many factors. These factors include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We believe that commercial aircraft operators are increasingly considering their spare engines as significant capital assets, where operating leases may be more attractive than finance leases or ownership of spare engines. We believe that currently as many as 35% to 40% of the spare engine market falls under the category of leased engines. Industry analysts have forecast that the percentage of leased engines is likely to increase over the next 15 years as engine leasing follows the growth of aircraft leasing. We believe this is due to the increasing cost of newer engines, the anticipated modernization of the worldwide aircraft fleet and the significant cost associated therewith, and the emergence of new niche-focused airlines which generally use leasing in order to obtain their capital assets.

 

ENGINE LEASING

 

As of December 31, 2018, all of our leases to air carriers, manufacturers and MROs are operating leases as opposed to finance leases. Under operating leases, we retain the potential benefit and assume the risk of the residual value of the equipment, in contrast to finance leases where the lessee has more of the potential benefits and risks of ownership. Operating leases allow commercial aircraft operators greater fleet and financial flexibility due to the relatively small initial capital outlay necessary to obtain use of the aircraft equipment, and the availability of short and long term leases to better meet their needs. Operating lease rates are generally higher than finance lease rates, in part because of the lessor retained residual value risk.

 

We describe all of our current leases as “triple-net” operating leases. A triple-net operating lease requires the lessee to make the full lease payment and pay any other expenses associated with the use of the engines, such as maintenance, casualty and liability insurance, sales or use taxes and personal property taxes. The leases contain detailed provisions specifying the lessees’ responsibility for engine damage, maintenance standards and the required condition of the engine upon return at the end of the lease. During the term of the lease, we require the lessee to maintain the engine in accordance with an approved maintenance program designed to meet applicable regulatory requirements in the jurisdictions in which the lessee operates.

 

We try to mitigate risk where possible. For example, we make an analysis of the credit risk associated with the lessee before entering into any significant lease transaction. Our credit analysis generally consists of evaluating the prospective lessee’s financial standing by utilizing financial statements and trade and/or banking references. In certain circumstances, we may require our lessees to provide additional credit support such as a letter of credit or a guaranty from a bank or a third party or a security deposit. We also evaluate insurance and expropriation risk and evaluate and monitor the political and legal climate of the country in which a particular lessee is located in order to determine our ability to repossess our engines should the need arise. Despite these guidelines, we cannot give assurance that we will not experience collection problems or significant losses in the future. See “Risk Factors” below.

 

At the commencement of a lease, we may collect, in advance, a security deposit normally equal to at least one month’s lease payment. The security deposit is returned to the lessee after all lease return conditions have been met. Under the terms of some of our leases, during the term of the lease, the lessee pays amounts to us based on usage of the engine, which is referred to as maintenance reserves or use fees, which are designed to cover the expected future maintenance costs. For those leases in which the maintenance reserves are reimbursable to the lessee, maintenance reserves are collected and are reimbursed to the lessee when qualifying maintenance is performed. Under longer-term leases, to the extent that cumulative use fee billings are inadequate to fund expenditures required prior to return of the engine to us, the lessee is obligated to cover the shortfall.

 

During the lease period, our leases require that maintenance and inspection of the leased engines be performed at qualified maintenance facilities certified by the FAA or its foreign equivalent. In addition, when an engine becomes off-lease, it undergoes inspection to verify compliance with lease return conditions. Our management believes that our

attention to our lessees and our emphasis on maintenance and inspection helps preserve residual values and generally helps us to recover our investment in our leased engines.

 

Upon termination of a lease, we will either enter into a new lease, sell or part out the related engines or airframe. The demand for aftermarket engines for either sale or lease may be affected by a number of variables, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The value of a particular used engine or airframe varies greatly depending upon its condition, the maintenance services performed during the lease term and, as applicable, the number of hours or cycles remaining until the next major maintenance is required. If we are unable to lease or sell engines on favorable terms, our financial results and our ability to service debt may be adversely affected. See “Risk Factors” below.

 

The value of a particular model of engine is heavily dependent on the status of the types of aircraft on which it is installed. We believe values of engines tend to be stable so long as the host aircraft for the engines as well as the engines themselves are still being manufactured. Prices will also tend to remain stable and even rise after a host aircraft is no longer manufactured so long as there is sufficient demand for the host aircraft. However, the value of an engine begins to decline rapidly once the host aircraft begins to be retired from service and/or parted out in significant numbers. Values of engines also may decline because of manufacturing defects that may surface subsequently.

 

As of December 31, 2018, we had a total lease portfolio consisting of 244 engines and related equipment, 17 aircraft and 10 other leased parts and equipment with a net book value of $1,673.1 million. As of December 31, 2017, we had a total lease portfolio consisting of 225 aircraft engines and related equipment, 16 aircraft and 7 other leased parts and equipment, with a net book value of $1,342.6 million.

 

As of December 31, 2018 minimum future rentals under non-cancelable operating leases of these engines, related equipment and aircraft assets were as follows:

 

 

 

As of December 31, 2018, we had 81 lessees of commercial aircraft engines and related equipment, aircraft, and other leased parts and equipment in 47 countries. We believe the loss of any one customer would not have a significant long-term adverse effect on our business. We operate in a global market in which our engines are easily transferable among lessees located in many countries, which stabilizes demand and allows us to recover from the loss of a particular customer. As a result, we do not believe we are dependent on a single customer or a few customers, the loss of which would have a material adverse effect on our revenues.

 

In 2011 we entered into an agreement with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. to participate in a joint venture formed as a Dublin-based Irish limited company — Willis Mitsui & Company Engine Support Limited (“WMES”) for the purpose of acquiring and leasing jet engines. Each partner holds a fifty percent interest in the joint venture. WMES owned a lease portfolio of 32 engines and one aircraft with a net book value of $234.8 million as of December 31, 2018. Our investment in the joint venture is $34.2 million as of December 31, 2018.

 

In 2014 we entered into an agreement with China Aviation Supplies Import & Export Corporation (“CASC”) to participate in a joint venture named CASC Willis Engine Lease Company Limited (“CASC Willis”), a new joint venture based in Shanghai, China. Each partner holds a fifty percent interest in the joint venture. CASC Willis acquires and leases jet engines to Chinese airlines and concentrates on meeting the fast growing demand for leased commercial aircraft engines and aviation assets in the People’s Republic of China. During 2016, CASC was reorganized, with portions of its partnership interest in CASC Willis being transferred to three Chinese airlines and another government-owned entity. The 2016 CASC reorganization resulted in no voting structure change to the joint venture. CASC Willis owned a lease portfolio of four engines with a net book value of $51.9 million as of December 31, 2018. Our investment in the joint venture is $13.8 million as of December 31, 2018. 

 

AIRCRAFT LEASING

 

As of December 31, 2018, we owned and leased seven Boeing 737 aircraft, six A319-111 aircraft, and four A319-112 aircraft with an aggregate net book value of $183.7 million.

 

Our aircraft leases are “triple-net” leases and the lessee is responsible for making the full lease payment and paying any other expenses associated with the use of the aircraft, such as maintenance, casualty and liability insurance, sales or use taxes and personal property taxes. In addition, the lessee is responsible for normal maintenance and repairs, engine and airframe overhauls, and compliance with return conditions of flight equipment on lease. Under the provisions of many leases, for certain engine and airframe overhauls, we reimburse the lessee for costs incurred up to but not exceeding maintenance reserves the lessee has paid to us. Maintenance reserves are designed to cover the expected maintenance costs. The lessee is also responsible for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations with respect to the aircraft. We require our lessees to comply with FAA requirements. We periodically inspect our leased aircraft. Generally, we require a deposit as security for the lessee’s performance of obligations under the lease and the condition of the aircraft upon return. In addition, the leases contain extensive provisions regarding our remedies and rights in the event of a default by the lessee and specific provisions regarding the condition of the aircraft upon return. The lessee is required to continue to make lease payments under all circumstances, including periods during which the aircraft is not in operation due to maintenance or grounding.

 

SPARE PARTS SALES

 

The sale of spare parts is managed by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Willis Aero. Willis Aero primarily engages in the sale of aircraft engine parts and materials through the acquisition or consignment from third parties or from the leasing portfolio. The launch of this new business segment in 2013 positioned our Company to provide end-of-life solutions for the growing supply of surplus aircraft and engines. With the establishment of Willis Aero, we are able to manage the full lifecycle of our lease assets, enhance the returns on our engine portfolio and create incremental value for our shareholders.  As of December 31, 2018, spare parts inventory had a carrying value of $48.9 million.

 

ASSET MANAGEMENT

 

In 2016, Willis Asset Management purchased the business and assets of TES, the engine management and consulting business of the TES Aviation Group.  Willis Asset Management is an asset management, technical services and consultancy business.  Willis Asset Management had 404 engines, excluding WLFC engines, under management as of December 31, 2018.

 

OUR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

 

We are uniquely positioned in the market and remain competitive, in part, due to the following advantages:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMPETITION

 

The markets for our products and services are very competitive, and we face competition from a number of sources. These competitors include aircraft engine and aircraft parts manufacturers, aircraft and aircraft engine lessors, airline and aircraft service and repair companies and aircraft and aircraft engine spare parts distributors. Many of our competitors have substantially greater resources than us. Those resources may include greater name recognition, larger product lines, complementary lines of business, greater financial, marketing, information systems and other resources. In addition,

equipment manufacturers, aircraft maintenance providers, FAA certified repair facilities and other aviation aftermarket suppliers may vertically integrate into the markets that we serve, thereby significantly increasing industry competition and negatively impacting the Company. We can give no assurance that competitive pressures will not materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

We compete primarily with aircraft engine manufacturers as well as with other aircraft engine lessors. It is common for commercial aircraft operators and MROs to utilize several leasing companies to meet their aircraft engine needs and to minimize reliance on a single leasing company.

 

Our competitors compete with us in many ways, including pricing, technical expertise, lease flexibility, engine availability, supply reliability, customer service and the quality and condition of engines. Many of our competitors have greater financial resources than we do, or are affiliates of larger companies. We emphasize the quality of our portfolio of aircraft engines, supply reliability and high level of customer service to our aircraft equipment lessees. We focus on ensuring adequate aircraft engine availability in high-demand locations, dedicate large portions of our organization to building relationships with lessees, maintain close day-to-day coordination with lessees and have developed an engine pooling arrangement that allows pool members quick access to available spare aircraft engines.

 

INSURANCE

 

In addition to requiring full indemnification under the terms of our leases, we require our lessees to carry the types of insurance customary in the air transportation industry, including comprehensive third party liability insurance and physical damage and casualty insurance. We require that we be named as an additional insured on liability insurance with ourselves and our lenders normally identified as the loss payee for damage to the equipment on policies carried by lessees. We monitor compliance with the insurance provisions of the leases. We also carry contingent physical damage and third party liability insurance as well as product liability insurance.

 

GOVERNMENT REGULATION

 

Our customers are subject to a high degree of regulation in the jurisdictions in which they operate. For example, the FAA regulates the manufacture, repair and operation of all aircraft operated in the United States and equivalent regulatory agencies in other countries, such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (“EASA”) in Europe, regulate aircraft operated in those countries. Such regulations also indirectly affect our business operations. All aircraft operated in the United States must be maintained under a continuous condition-monitoring program and must periodically undergo thorough inspection and maintenance. The inspection, maintenance and repair procedures for commercial aircraft are prescribed by regulatory authorities and can be performed only by certified repair facilities utilizing certified technicians. The FAA can suspend or revoke the authority of air carriers or their licensed personnel for failure to comply with regulations and ground aircraft if their airworthiness is in question.

 

While our leasing and reselling business is not regulated, the aircraft, engines and related parts that we purchase, lease and sell must be accompanied by documentation that enables the customer to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. Furthermore, before parts may be installed in an aircraft, they must meet certain standards of condition established by the FAA and/or the equivalent regulatory agencies in other countries. Specific regulations vary from country to country, although regulatory requirements in other countries are generally satisfied by compliance with FAA requirements. With respect to a particular engine or engine component, we utilize FAA and/or EASA certified repair stations to repair and certify engines and components to ensure marketability.

 

Governmental regulations where the related airframe is registered, and where the aircraft is operated, stipulate noise and emissions levels restrictions. For example, jurisdictions throughout the world have adopted noise regulations which require all aircraft to comply with Stage III noise requirements. In addition to the current Stage III compliance requirements, the United States and the International Civil Aviation Organization, or “ICAO,” have adopted a more stringent set of “Stage IV” standards for noise levels which apply to engines manufactured or certified from 2006 onward. At this time, the United States regulations do not require any phase-out of aircraft that qualify only for Stage III compliance, but the European Union has established a framework for the imposition of operating limitations on non-Stage IV aircraft.

 

As of December 31, 2018, most of the engines in our lease portfolio are Stage IV engines and are generally suitable for use on one or more commonly used aircraft.

 

We believe that the aviation industry will be subject to continued regulatory activity. Additionally, increased oversight will continue to originate from the quality assurance departments of airline operators. We have been able to meet all such requirements to date, and believe that we will be able to meet any additional requirements that may be imposed. We cannot give assurance, however, that new, more stringent government regulations will not be adopted in the future or that any such new regulations, if enacted, would not have a material adverse impact on us.

 

GEOGRAPHIC AREAS IN WHICH WE OPERATE

 

At December 31, 2018, approximately 84% of our on-lease engines, aircraft, and related equipment (all of which we sometimes refer to as “equipment”) by net book value are leased and operated internationally. Substantially all leases relating to this equipment are denominated and payable in U.S. dollars, which is customary in the industry. Future leases may provide for payments to be made in euros or other foreign currencies. In 2018, we leased our equipment to lessees domiciled in eight geographic regions. We are subject to a number of risks related to our foreign operations. See “Risk Factors” below.

 

The following table displays the regional profile of our lease customer base for the three years ended December 31, 2018. The United States and Sweden each accounted for more than 10% of our lease rent revenue in 2018. The United States was the only country individually that accounted for more than 10% of our lease rent revenue in 2017.  The United States and China each accounted for more than 10% of our lease rent revenue in 2016. The tables include geographic information about our leased equipment grouped by the lessee’s domicile (which does not necessarily indicate the asset’s actual location):

 

 

 

FINANCING/SOURCE OF FUNDS

 

We, directly or through our Willis Engine Structured Trust II, III, and IV (“WEST II”, “WEST III”, “WEST IV”) asset-backed securitizations (“ABS”) typically acquire engines with a combination of equity capital and funds borrowed from financial institutions. In order to facilitate financing and leasing of engines, each engine is generally owned through a statutory or common law trust that is wholly-owned by us or our subsidiaries. We usually borrow up to 85% of an engine purchase price. Substantially all of our assets secure our related indebtedness. We typically acquire engines from airlines, engine manufacturers or from other lessors. From time to time, we selectively acquire engines prior to a firm commitment to lease or sell the engine, depending on the price of the engine and market demand with the expectation that we can lease or sell such engines in the future. Additionally, for discrete financing purposes, we will enter into bi-lateral and preferred financing arrangements from time to time.

 

EMPLOYEES

 

As of December 31, 2018, we had 175 full-time employees (excluding consultants), in sales and marketing, technical service and administration. None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement and we believe our employee relations are satisfactory.

 

ITEM 1A.RISK FACTORS

 

The following risk factors and other information included in this Annual Report should be carefully considered. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

 

RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS

 

Risks Related to Our Operations

 

We are affected by the risks faced by commercial aircraft operators and MROs because they are our customers.

 

We operate as a supplier of engines, aircraft and related parts (“aviation equipment”) to commercial aircraft operators and MROs and are indirectly impacted by all the risks facing commercial aircraft operators and MROs today. The ability of each lessee to perform its obligations under the relevant lease and the demand of companies to purchase aviation equipment will depend primarily on the lessee’s (or in the case of parts and materials, the purchaser’s) financial condition and cash flow. This may be affected by factors beyond our control, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the extent that our customers are negatively affected by these risk factors, we may experience:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our operating results vary and comparisons to results for preceding periods may not be meaningful.

 

Due to a number of factors, including the risks described in this ITEM 1A, our operating results may fluctuate. These fluctuations may also be caused by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These risks may reduce our utilization rates, lease margins, maintenance reserve revenues and proceeds from engine and aircraft sales, and result in higher legal, technical, maintenance, storage and insurance costs related to repossession and the cost of engines being off-lease. As a result of the foregoing and other factors, the availability of engines and aircraft for lease or sale periodically experiences cycles of oversupply and undersupply of given engine or aircraft models. The incidence of an oversupply of engines or aircraft may produce substantial decreases in lease rates and the appraised and resale value of aviation equipment and may increase the time and costs incurred to lease or sell engines.

 

We anticipate that fluctuations from period to period will continue in the future. As a result, we believe that comparisons to results for preceding periods may not be meaningful and that results of prior periods should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance.

 

We and our customers operate in a highly regulated industry and changes in laws or regulations may adversely affect our ability to lease or sell our engines or aircraft.

 

Licenses and consents

 

We and our customers operate in a highly regulated industry. A number of our leases require specific governmental or regulatory licenses, consents or approvals. These include consents for certain payments under the leases and for the export, import or re-export of our engines or aircraft. Consents needed in connection with future leasing or sale of our engines or aircraft may not be received timely or have economically feasible terms. Any of these events could adversely affect our ability to lease or sell engines or aircraft.

 

The U.S. Department of Commerce, or the “Commerce Department,” regulates exports. We are subject to the Commerce Department’s and the U.S. Department of State’s regulations with respect to the lease and sale of engines and aircraft to foreign entities and the export of related parts. The Commerce Department and the U.S. Department of State may, in some cases, require us to obtain export licenses for engines exported to foreign countries. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, enforces regulations related to the import of engines and aircraft into the United States for maintenance or lease and imports of parts for installation on our engines and aircraft.

 

We are prohibited from doing business with persons designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or “OFAC,” on its “Specially Designated Nationals List,” and must monitor our operations and existing and potential lessees and other counterparties for compliance with OFAC’s rules.  Similarly, sanctions issued by the United Nations, the U.S. government, the European Union or other governments could prohibit or restrict us from doing business in certain countries, or with certain customers or persons, and we must monitor our operations and existing and potential lessees and other counterparties for compliance with such sanctions.

 

Anti-corruption Laws

 

As a U.S. corporation with significant international operations, we are required to comply with a number of U.S. and international laws and regulations, including those combating corruption.  For example, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and similar world-wide anti-bribery laws generally prohibit improper payments to foreign officials for the purpose of influencing any official act or decision or securing any improper advantage. The scope and enforcement of anti-corruption laws and regulations may vary. Although our policies expressly mandate compliance with the FCPA and similarly applicable laws, there can be no assurance that none of our employees or agents will take any action in violation of our policies. Violations of such laws or regulations could result in substantial civil or criminal fines or penalties. Actual or alleged violations could also damage our reputation, be expensive to defend, and impair our ability to do business.

 

Civil aviation regulation

 

Users of engines and aircraft are subject to general civil aviation authorities, including the FAA and the EASA, who regulate the maintenance of engines and issue airworthiness directives. Airworthiness directives typically set forth special maintenance actions or modifications to certain engine and aircraft types or series of specific engines that must be implemented for the engine or aircraft to remain in service. Also, airworthiness directives may require the lessee to make more frequent inspections of an engine, aircraft or particular engine parts. Each lessee of an engine or aircraft generally is responsible for complying with all airworthiness directives. However, if the engine or aircraft is off lease, we may be forced to bear the cost of compliance with such airworthiness directives, and if the engine or aircraft is leased, subject to the terms of the lease, if any, we may be forced to share the cost of compliance.

 

Environmental regulation

 

Governmental regulations of noise and emissions levels may be applicable where the related airframe is registered, and where the aircraft is operated. For example, jurisdictions throughout the world have adopted noise regulations which require all aircraft to comply with Stage III noise requirements. In addition to the current Stage III compliance requirements, the United States and the ICAO have adopted a more stringent set of “Stage IV” standards for noise levels

which apply to engines manufactured or certified from 2006 onward. At this time, the United States regulations do not require any phase-out of aircraft that qualify only for Stage III compliance, but the European Union has established a framework for the imposition of operating limitations on non-Stage IV aircraft. These regulations could limit the economic life of our engines and aircraft or reduce their value, could limit our ability to lease or sell the non-compliant engines or aircraft or, if modifications are permitted, require us to make significant additional investments in the engines or aircraft to make them compliant.

 

The United States and other jurisdictions are imposing more stringent limits on the emission of nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions from engines, consistent with ICAO standards. These limits generally apply only to engines manufactured after 1999. In 2005, the European Union launched an Emissions Trading System limiting greenhouse gas emissions by various industries and persons, including aircraft operators.  Concerns over global warming, climate change or other environmental issues could result in more stringent limitations on the operation of older, non-compliant engines and aircraft.

 

Our aircraft, engines or parts could cause bodily injury or property damage, exposing us to liability claims.

 

We are exposed to potential liability claims if the use of our aircraft, engines or parts is alleged to have caused bodily injury or property damage. Our leases require our lessees to indemnify us against these claims and to carry insurance customary in the air transportation industry, including liability, property damage and hull all risks insurance on our engines and on our aircraft at agreed upon levels. We can give no assurance that one or more catastrophic events will not exceed insurance coverage limits or that lessees’ insurance will cover all claims that may be asserted against us. Any insurance coverage deficiency or default by lessees under their indemnification or insurance obligations may reduce our recovery of losses upon an event of loss.

 

Our financial reporting for lease revenue may be adversely impacted by the new model for lease accounting, as well as any future change to current tax laws or accounting principles pertaining to operating or other lease financing.

 

Our lessees enjoy favorable accounting and tax treatment generally by using operating leases. Changes in tax laws or accounting principles that make operating leases less attractive to our lessees could have a material adverse effect on demand for our leases and on our business.

 

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”).  If there are future changes in GAAP with regard to how we and our customers must account for leases, it could change the way we and our customers conduct our businesses and, therefore, could have the potential to have an adverse effect on our business.

 

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842)” (“ASU 2016-02”). The FASB issued ASU 2016-02 to increase transparency and comparability among organizations recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. Under ASU 2016-02, lessors will account for leases using an approach that is substantially equivalent to existing GAAP for sales-type leases, direct financing leases and operating leases. Unlike current guidance, however, a lease with collectability uncertainties may be classified as a sales-type lease. If collectability of lease payments, plus any amount necessary to satisfy a lessee residual value guarantee, is not probable, lease payments received will be recognized as a deposit liability and the underlying assets will not be derecognized until collectability of the remaining amounts becomes probable. The amendments in this accounting standard update are effective for the Company on January 1, 2019, with early adoption permitted. The Company will adopt this accounting standard update effective January 1, 2019. The Company plans to adopt the standard using the optional transition method with no restatement of comparative periods and a cumulative effect adjustment, if any, recognized as of the date of adoption.

 

We may not be adequately covered by insurance.

 

By virtue of holding title to engines and aircraft, parties suffering damage as a result of malfunction of an engine or aircraft may assert that lessors are strictly liable for losses resulting from the operation of the engines and aircraft. Such liability may be asserted even under circumstances in which the lessor is not directly controlling the operation of the

relevant aircraft.  While we maintain contingent insurance covering losses not covered by our lessees’ insurance, such coverage may not be available in circumstances where the lessees’ insurance coverage is insufficient. In addition, if a lessee is not obligated to maintain sufficient insurance, we may incur the costs of additional insurance coverage during the related lease. We are required under certain of our debt facilities to obtain political risk insurance for leases to lessees in specified jurisdictions. We can give no assurance that such insurance will be available at commercially reasonable rates, if at all.

 

Currently, the U.S. government is still offering war risk insurance to U.S.-certificated airlines; however, most foreign governments have ceased this practice, forcing non-U.S. airlines back into the commercial insurance market for this coverage. It is unknown how long the U.S. government will continue to offer war risk insurance and whether U.S.-certificated airlines could obtain war risk insurance in the commercial markets on acceptable terms and conditions.

 

We and our lenders generally are named as additional insureds on liability insurance policies carried by our lessees and are usually the loss payees for damage to our engines and aircraft. However, an uninsured or partially insured claim, or a claim for which third-party indemnification is not available, could have a material adverse effect upon us. A loss of an aircraft where we lease the airframe, an engine or other leased equipment could result in significant monetary claims for which there may not be sufficient insurance coverage.

 

Risks Related to Our Aviation Assets

 

The value and lease rates of our engines and aircraft could decline.

 

The value of a particular model of engine depends heavily on the types of aircraft on which it may be installed and the supply of available engines. We believe values of engines tend to be relatively stable so long as there is sufficient demand for the host aircraft, and the demand for aircraft depend on numerous factors, including age, technology, and customer preference. We believe the value of an engine begins to decline rapidly once the host aircraft begins to be retired from service and/or used for spare parts in significant numbers. Certain types of engines and aircraft may be used in significant numbers by commercial aircraft operators that are currently experiencing financial difficulties. If such operators were to go into liquidation or similar proceedings, the resulting over-supply of engines and aircraft from these operators could have an adverse effect on the demand for the affected engine and aircraft types and the values of such aviation equipment.

 

Upon termination of a lease, we may be unable to enter into new leases or sell the affected aviation equipment on acceptable terms.

 

We directly or indirectly own the aviation equipment that we lease to customers and bear the risk of not recovering our entire investment through leasing and selling the applicable aircraft and engines. Upon termination of a lease, we seek to enter a new lease or to sell or part-out the applicable aviation equipment. We also selectively sell aviation equipment on an opportunistic basis. We cannot give assurance that we will be able to find, in a timely manner, a lessee or a buyer for aviation equipment coming off-lease or for the associated parts. If we do find a lessee, we may not be able to obtain satisfactory lease rates and terms (including maintenance and redelivery conditions) or rates and terms comparable to our current leases, and we can give no assurance that the creditworthiness of any future lessee will be equal to or better than that of the existing lessees of our engines. Because the terms of engine leases may be less than 12 months, we may frequently need to remarket engines. We face the risk that we may not be able to keep our engines on lease consistently.

 

We carry the risk of maintenance and obsolescence for our leased aircraft.  These risks include:

 

 

 

 

We carry the risk of maintenance for our leased assets. Our maintenance reserves may be inadequate or lessees may default on their obligations to perform maintenance, which could increase our expenses.

 

Under most of our engine and aircraft leases, the lessee makes monthly maintenance reserve payments to us based on the asset’s usage and management’s estimate of maintenance costs. A certain level of maintenance reserve payments on the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV engines are held in related engine reserve restricted cash accounts. Generally, the lessee under long term leases is responsible for all scheduled maintenance costs, even if they exceed the amounts of maintenance reserves paid. Seventy-one of our leases comprising approximately 27.4% of the net book value of our on-lease assets at December 31, 2018 do not provide for any monthly maintenance reserve payments to be made by lessees, and we can give no assurance that future leases of our engines or aircraft will require maintenance reserves. In some cases, including engine and aircraft repossessions, we may decide to pay for refurbishments or repairs if the accumulated use fees are inadequate.

 

We can give no assurance that our operating cash flows and available liquidity reserves, including the amounts held in the reserve restricted cash accounts, will be sufficient to fund necessary engine and aircraft maintenance. Actual maintenance reserve payments by lessees and other cash that we receive may be significantly less than projected as a result of numerous factors, including defaults by lessees. Furthermore, we can provide no assurance that lessees will meet their obligations to make maintenance reserve payments or perform required scheduled maintenance or, to the extent that maintenance reserve payments are insufficient, to cover the cost of refurbishments or repairs.

 

Failures by lessees to meet their maintenance and recordkeeping obligations under our leases could adversely affect the value of our leased engines and aircraft and our ability to lease the engines and aircraft in a timely manner following termination of the leases.

 

The value and income producing potential of an engine or aircraft depends heavily on it being maintained in accordance with an approved maintenance system and complying with all applicable governmental directives and manufacturer requirements. In addition, for an engine or aircraft to be available for service, all records, logs, licenses and documentation relating to maintenance and operations of the engine or aircraft must be maintained in accordance with governmental and manufacturer specifications.

 

Our leases make the lessees primarily responsible for maintaining the engines or aircraft, keeping related records and complying with governmental directives and manufacturer requirements. Over time, certain lessees have experienced, and may experience in the future, difficulties in meeting their maintenance and recordkeeping obligations as specified by the terms of our leases.

 

Our ability to determine the condition of the engines or aircraft and whether the lessees are properly maintaining our assets is generally limited to the lessees’ reporting of monthly usage and any maintenance performed, confirmed by periodic inspections performed by us and third-parties. A lessee’s failure to meet its maintenance or recordkeeping obligations under a lease could result in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any of these events may adversely affect the value of the engine or aircraft, unless and until remedied, and reduce our revenues and increase our expenses. If aviation equipment is damaged during a lease and we are unable to recover from the lessee or though insurance, we may incur a loss.

 

The advent of superior engine and aircraft technology and higher production levels could cause our existing portfolio of aviation equipment to become outdated and therefore less desirable.

 

As manufacturers introduce technological innovations and new types of engines and aircraft, certain engines and aircraft in our existing portfolio of aviation equipment may become less desirable to potential lessees or purchasers. This next generation of engines and aircraft is expected to deliver improved fuel consumption and reduced noise and emissions with lower operating costs compared to current-technology aircraft.

 

The introduction of new models of engines and aircraft and the potential resulting overcapacity in supply, could adversely affect the residual values and the lease rates for our engines and aircraft, our ability to lease or sell our engines and aircraft on favorable terms, or at all, or result in us recording future impairment charges.

 

Our customers face intense competition and some carriers are in troubled financial condition.

 

As a general matter, commercial aircraft operators with weak capital structures are more likely than well-capitalized operators to seek operating leases, and, at any point in time, investors should expect a varying number of lessees and sub-lessees to experience payment difficulties. As a result of such commercial aircraft operators’ weak financial condition and lack of liquidity, a portion of lessees over time may be significantly in arrears in their rental or maintenance payments and may default on their lease obligations. Given the size of our portfolio of engines and aircraft, we expect that from time to time some lessees will be slow in making, or will fail to make, their payments in full under their leases. As of December 31, 2018, we had an aggregate of approximately $4.8 million in lease rent and $5.6 million in maintenance reserve payments more than 30 days past due. Our inability to collect receivables or to repossess engines, aircraft or other leased equipment in the event of a default by a lessee could have a material adverse effect on us.

 

We may not correctly assess the credit risk of each lessee or may not be in a position to charge risk-adjusted lease rates, and lessees may not be able to continue to perform their financial and other obligations under our leases in the future. A delayed, reduced or missed rental payment from a lessee decreases our revenues and cash flow and may adversely affect our ability to make payments on our indebtedness or to comply with financial covenants in our loan documents (See “Our Financing Facilities Impose Restrictions on our Operations”). While we typically experience some level of delinquency under our leases, default levels may increase over time, particularly as our portfolio of engines and aircraft ages and if economic conditions deteriorate.

 

Various airlines have filed for bankruptcy in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions, with some seeking to restructure their operations and others ceasing operations entirely. In the case of airlines that are restructuring, such airlines often reduce their flights or eliminate the use of certain types of aircraft and the related engine types. Applicable bankruptcy laws often allow these airlines to terminate leases early and to return our engines or aircraft without meeting the contractual return conditions. In that case, we may not be paid the full amount, or any part, of our claims for these lease terminations. Alternatively, we might negotiate agreements with those airlines under which the airline continues to lease the engine or aircraft, but under modified lease terms. If requests for payment restructuring or rescheduling are made and granted, reduced or deferred rental payments may be payable over all or some part of the remaining term of the lease, although the terms of any revised payment schedules may be unfavorable and such payments may not be made.  In the case of an airline which has ceased operations entirely, in addition to the risk of nonpayment, we face the enhanced risk of deterioration or total loss of an engine or aircraft while it is under uncertain custody and control.  In that case, we may be required to take legal action to secure the return of the engine or aircraft and its records or, alternatively, to negotiate a settlement under which we can immediately recover the engine or aircraft and its records in exchange for waiving subsequent legal claims.

 

We may not be able to repossess an engine or aircraft when the lessee defaults, and even if we are able to repossess the engine or aircraft, we may have to expend significant funds in the repossession, remarketing and leasing of the asset.

 

When a lessee defaults and such default is not cured in a timely manner we typically seek to terminate the lease and repossess the engine or aircraft. If a defaulting lessee contests the termination and repossession or is under court protection, enforcement of our rights under the lease may be difficult, expensive and time-consuming. We may not realize any practical benefits from our legal rights and we may need to obtain consents to export the engine or aircraft. As a result, the relevant asset may be off-lease or not producing revenue for a prolonged period. In addition, we will incur direct costs associated with repossessing our engine or aircraft. These costs may include legal and similar costs, the direct costs of transporting, storing and insuring the engine or aircraft, and costs associated with necessary maintenance and recordkeeping to make the asset available for lease or sale. During this time, we will realize no revenue from the leased engine or aircraft, and we will continue to be obligated to pay any debt financing applicable to the asset. If an engine is installed on an airframe, the airframe may be owned by an aircraft lessor or other third party. Our ability to recover engines installed on airframes may depend on the cooperation of the airframe owner.

 

Risks Related to Our Orders of New Engines

 

We have committed to purchase new engines in 2019 with an aggregate value of up to $66.8 million. Our ability to lease these assets on favorable terms, if at all, may be adversely affected by risks to the commercial airline industry generally. If we are unable to obtain commitments for the remaining deliveries or otherwise satisfy our contractual obligations to the engine manufacturers, we will be subject to several potential risks, including:

 

 

 

 

 

Risks Relating to Our Capital Structure

 

Our future growth and profitability will depend on our ability to acquire aviation equipment and make other strategic investments.  As a result, our inability to obtain sufficient capital to finance these acquisitions would constrain our ability to grow our portfolio and to increase our revenues.

 

Our business is capital intensive and highly leveraged. Accordingly, our ability to successfully execute our business strategy and maintain our operations depends on the availability and cost of debt and equity capital. Additionally, our ability to borrow against our portfolio of engines, aircraft and strategic investments is dependent, in part, on the appraised value of such engines, aircraft and investments. If the appraised value of our portfolio declines, we may be required to either refrain from borrowings or reduce the principal outstanding under certain of our debt facilities.

 

A significant increase in our cost to acquire engines and aircraft, or in our cost of strategic investments, due to increased interest expense or cost of capital will make it more difficult for us to make accretive acquisitions. The disruptions may also adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our continued growth. Although we have adequate debt commitments from our lenders, assuming they are willing and able to meet their contractual obligation to lend to us, market disruptions may adversely affect our ability to raise additional equity capital to fund future growth, requiring us to rely on internally generated funds. This would lower our rate of capital investment.

 

We can give no assurance that the capital we need will be available to us on favorable terms, or at all. Our inability to obtain sufficient capital, or to renew or expand our credit facilities, could result in increased funding costs and would limit our ability to:

 

 

 

 

 

Our financing facilities impose restrictions on our operations.

 

We have, and expect to continue to have, various credit and financing arrangements with third parties. These financing arrangements are secured by all or substantially all of our assets. Our existing credit and financing arrangements require us to meet certain financial condition tests. Our revolving credit facility prohibits our purchasing or redeeming stock, or declaring or paying dividends on shares of any class or series of our common or preferred stock if an event of default under such facility has or will occur and remains uncured. The agreements governing our debt, including the issuance of notes by WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV, also include restrictive financial covenants. A breach of those and other covenants could, unless waived or amended by our creditors, result in a cross-default to other indebtedness and an acceleration of all or substantially all of our debt. We have obtained such waivers and amendments to our financing agreements in the past, but we cannot provide any assurance that we will receive such waivers or amendments in the future if we require them. If our outstanding debt is accelerated at any time, we likely would have little or no cash or other assets available after payment of our debts, which could cause the value or market price of our outstanding equity securities to decline significantly and we would have few, if any, assets available for distributions to our equity holders in liquidation.

 

We are exposed to interest rate risk on our leases, which could have a negative impact on our margins.

 

We are affected by fluctuations in interest rates. Our lease rates are generally fixed, and a portion of our debt bears variable rate interest based on one-month LIBOR, so changes in interest rates directly affect our lease margins. From time to time, we seek to reduce our interest rate volatility and uncertainty through hedging with interest rate derivative contracts with respect to a portion of our debt. Our lease margins, as well as our earnings and cash flows may be adversely affected by increases in interest rates. To the extent we do not have hedges or other derivatives in place or if our hedges or other derivatives do not mitigate our interest rate exposure from an economic standpoint, we would be adversely affected by increasing interest rates. As reported by Intercontinental Exchange, the one-month LIBOR was approximately 2.50% and 1.57% on December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

 

An increase in interest rates or in our borrowing margin would increase the cost of servicing our debt and could reduce our profitability.

 

A significant portion of our outstanding debt bears interest at floating rates. As a result, to the extent we have not hedged against rising interest rates, an increase in the applicable benchmark interest rates would increase our cost of servicing our debt and could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows.

 

In addition, we regularly refinance our indebtedness. If interest rates or our borrowing margins increase between the time an existing financing arrangement was consummated and the time such financing arrangement is refinanced, the cost of servicing our debt would increase and our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

 

We have risks in managing our portfolio of engines to meet customer needs.

 

The relatively long life cycles of aircraft and jet engines can be shortened by world events, government regulation or customer preferences. We seek to manage these risks by trying to anticipate demand for particular engine and aircraft types, maintaining a portfolio mix of engines that we believe is diversified and that will have long-term value and will be sought by lessees in the global market for jet engines, and by selling engines and aircraft that we expect will experience obsolescence or declining usefulness in the foreseeable future.

 

The WEST II securitization facility includes restrictions and limitations on the sale of engines in that facility including, among others, that (i) the net proceeds from any individual engine sale must be at least 105% of the debt allocated under the facility to that engine, and (ii) the aggregate appraised value of the facility’s engines sold through September 2019 cannot exceed 20% of the total appraised value of the facility’s engines at the inception of the facility plus the value of capitalized modifications to the engines since then, and cannot exceed 30% thereafter. We can give no assurance that we can successfully manage our engine portfolio to reduce these risks.

 

The WEST III securitization facility includes restrictions and limitations on the sale of assets in that facility including, with respect to pro forma limitations on assets subject to part-out agreements, a 15% limitation on sales prior to August 2019 and 20% thereafter, and also, in certain situations, with respect to a 25% limit on assets sold below a specific dollar threshold.

 

The WEST IV securitization facility includes restrictions and limitations on the sale of assets in that facility including, with respect to pro forma limitations on assets subject to part-out agreements, a 15% limitation on sales prior to August 2020 and 20% thereafter, and also, in certain situations, with respect to a 25% limit on assets sold below a specific dollar threshold.

 

Our inability to maintain sufficient liquidity could limit our operational flexibility and also impact our ability to make payments on our obligations as they come due.

 

In addition to being capital intensive and highly leveraged, our business also requires that we maintain sufficient liquidity to enable us to contribute the non-financed portion of engine and aircraft purchases as well as to service our payment obligations to our creditors as they become due, despite the fact that the timing and amounts of payments under our leases do not match the timing under our debt service obligations. Our restricted cash is unavailable for general corporate purposes. Accordingly, our ability to successfully execute our business strategy and maintain our operations depends on our ability to continue to maintain sufficient liquidity, cash and available credit under our credit facilities. Our liquidity could be adversely impacted if we are subjected to one or more of the following: a significant decline in lease revenues, a material increase in interest expense that is not matched by a corresponding increase in lease rates, a significant increase in operating expenses, or a reduction in our available credit under our credit facilities. If we do not maintain sufficient liquidity, our ability to meet our payment obligations to creditors or to borrow additional funds could become impaired as could our ability to make dividend payments or other distributions to our equity holders. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Financial Position, Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

 

RISKS RELATING TO THE COMMON STOCK TRADING PRICE

 

The Company’s Common Stock trading price may be affected by numerous factors that may impose a financial risk on the Company’s stockholders.

 

The trading price of our common stock may fluctuate due to many factors, including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition, the U.S. stock markets have experienced price and volume volatility that has affected many companies’ stock prices, often for reasons unrelated to the operating performance of those companies.

 

RISKS RELATING TO OUR FOREIGN OPERATIONS

 

A substantial portion of our lease revenue comes from foreign customers, subjecting us to divergent regulatory requirements.

 

For the year ended December 31, 2018, 77% of our lease revenue was generated by leases to foreign customers. Such international leases present risks to us because certain foreign laws, regulations and judicial procedures may not be as protective of lessor rights as those which apply in the United States. We are also subject to risks of foreign laws that affect the timing and access to courts and may limit our remedies when collecting lease payments and recovering assets. None of our leased engines have been expropriated; however, we can give no assurance that political instability abroad and changes in the policies of foreign nations will not present expropriation risks in the future that are not covered by insurance.

 

Substantially all of our leases require payments in U.S. dollars but many of our customers operate in other currencies; if foreign currencies devalue against the U.S. dollar, our lessees may be unable to make their payments to us.

 

Substantially all of our current leases require that payments be made in U.S. dollars. If the currency that our lessees typically use in operating their businesses devalues against the U.S. dollar, those lessees could encounter difficulties in making payments in U.S. dollars. Furthermore, many foreign countries have currency and exchange laws regulating international payments that may impede or prevent payments from being paid to us in U.S. dollars. Future leases may provide for payments to be made in euros or other foreign currencies. Any change in the currency exchange rate that reduces the amount of U.S. dollars obtained by us upon conversion of future lease payments denominated in euros or other foreign currencies, may, if not appropriately hedged by us, have a material adverse effect on us and increase the volatility of our earnings. If payments on our leases are made in foreign currency, our risks and hedging costs will increase.

 

We operate globally and are affected by our customers’ local and regional economic and other risks.

 

We believe that our customers’ growth and financial condition are driven by economic growth in their service areas. The largest portion of our lease revenues come from Europe. European airline operations are among the most heavily regulated in the world. At the same time, low-cost carriers have exerted substantial competitive and financial pressure on major European airlines. Low-cost carriers are having similar effects in North America and elsewhere.

 

Our operations may also be affected by political or economic instability in the areas where we have customers.

 

We may not be able to enforce our rights as a creditor if a lessee files for bankruptcy outside of the United States.

 

When a debtor seeks protection under the United States Bankruptcy Code, creditors are automatically stayed from enforcing their rights. In the case of United States-certificated airlines, Section 1110 of the Bankruptcy Code provides certain relief to lessors of aircraft equipment. Section 1110 has been the subject of significant litigation and we can give no assurance that Section 1110 will protect our investment in aircraft or engines in the event of a lessee’s bankruptcy. In addition, Section 1110 does not apply to lessees located outside of the United States and applicable foreign laws may not provide comparable protection.

 

Liens on our engines or aircraft could exceed the value of such assets, which could negatively affect our ability to repossess, lease or sell a particular engine or aircraft.

 

Liens that secure the payment of repairers’ charges or other liens may, depending on the jurisdiction, attach to engines and aircraft. Engines also may be installed on airframes to which liens unrelated to the engines have attached. These liens may secure substantial sums that may, in certain jurisdictions or for limited types of liens, exceed the value of the particular engine or aircraft to which the liens have attached. In some jurisdictions, a lien may give the holder the right to detain or, in limited cases, sell or cause the forfeiture of the engine or aircraft. Such liens may have priority over our interest as well as our creditors’ interest in the engines or aircraft, either because they have such priority under applicable local law or because our creditors’ security interests are not filed in jurisdictions outside the United States. These liens and lien holders could impair our ability to repossess and lease or sell the engines or aircraft. We cannot give assurance that our lessees will comply with their obligations to discharge third-party liens on our assets. If they do not, we may, in the future, find it necessary to pay the claims secured by such liens to repossess such assets.

 

In certain countries, an engine affixed to an aircraft may become an accession to the aircraft and we may not be able to exercise our ownership rights over the engine.

 

In some jurisdictions, an engine affixed to an aircraft may become an accession to the aircraft, so that the ownership rights of the owner of the aircraft supersede the ownership rights of the owner of the engine. If an aircraft is security for the owner’s obligations to a third-party, the security interest in the aircraft may supersede our rights as owner of the engine. This legal principle could limit our ability to repossess an engine in the event of a lessee bankruptcy or lease default while the aircraft with the engine installed remains in such a jurisdiction. We may suffer a loss if we are not able to repossess engines leased to lessees in these jurisdictions.

 

Changes to trade policy, tariff, sanction and import/export regulations may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Changes in U.S. or international, political, regulatory and economic conditions or in laws and policies governing foreign trade and investment in the territories or countries where we currently conduct our business, could adversely affect our business. The executive branch of the United States government has instituted or proposed changes in trade policies that include the negotiation or termination of trade agreements, the imposition of higher tariffs on imports into the U.S., economic sanctions on corporations or countries, and other government regulations affecting trade between the U.S. and other countries that will affect the manner in which we conduct our business. Trading partners of the United States have also implemented and threatened to implement retaliatory tariffs and/or other impediments to trade.

 

As a result of new or threatened tariffs, sanctions and/or impediments to trade, both from the United States and other countries, there may be greater restrictions and economic disincentives on international trade. The new or threatened tariffs, sanctions and other changes in trade policy could trigger retaliatory actions by affected countries, and certain foreign governments have instituted or are considering imposing tariffs and/or economic sanctions on certain U.S. goods. We do a significant amount of business that would be impacted by changes to the trade policies of the U.S. and foreign countries (including governmental action related to tariffs, international trade agreements, or economic sanctions). Such changes have the potential to adversely impact the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof, our industry and the global demand for our products and services, and as a result, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Uncertainty regarding Brexit and the outcome of future arrangements between the European Union and the United Kingdom may adversely affect our business.

 

On June 23, 2016, the U.K. voted in favor of a referendum to leave the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit”. On March 29, 2017, the U.K. invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which triggered a two-year period (subject to extension by unanimous approval of the European Union member states) for the U.K. and European Union to negotiate the terms of the U.K.’s withdrawal. The U.K. and European Union negotiated and proposed a form of withdrawal agreement; however, the U.K. parliament rejected the proposed agreement on January 15, 2019, and any alternative withdrawal agreement remains subject to approval by the U.K. parliament and European Union member states. The nature of the arrangements between the U.K. and the European Union are yet to be determined and difficult to predict. Absent any changes to the current timeline, the U.K. will leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. Uncertainty regarding the outcome of any withdrawal agreement and negotiations between the U.K. and European Union means there is a risk that these arrangements may not be ready for implementation by the end of March 2019, or that the U.K. leaves the European Union without an agreement in place (commonly referred to as a “no-deal Brexit”). Ongoing uncertainty regarding such arrangements may continue for a significant period of time (especially if a no-deal Brexit occurs) and could adversely affect European and worldwide economic and market conditions, contribute to instability in global financial and foreign exchange markets, and introduce significant legal uncertainty and potentially divergent national laws and regulations.

 

We have a presence in certain European Union countries, including Ireland, England, Wales and France. During 2018, we derived approximately 77% of our core leasing revenue from international business. The consequences of Brexit could introduce significant uncertainties into global financial markets and adversely impact the markets in which we and our customers operate.

 

RISKS RELATED TO OUR SMALL SIZE AND CORPORATE STRUCTURE

 

Intense competition in our industry, particularly with major companies with substantially greater financial, personnel, marketing and other resources, could cause our revenues and business to suffer.

 

The engine and aircraft leasing industry is highly competitive and global. Our primary competitors include GE Capital Aviation Services, Shannon Engine Support Ltd., Pratt &Whitney, Rolls-Royce Partners Finance and Engine Lease Finance Corporation.

 

Our primary competitors generally have significantly greater financial, personnel and other resources, as well as a physical presence in more locations, than we do. In addition, competing engine lessors may have lower costs of capital and may provide financial or technical services or other inducements to customers, including the ability to sell or lease aircraft, offer maintenance and repair services or provide other forms of financing that we do not provide. We cannot give assurance that we will be able to compete effectively or that competitive pressures will not adversely affect us.

 

There is no organized market for the spare engines or the aircraft we purchase. Typically, we purchase engines and aircraft from commercial aircraft operators, engine manufacturers, MROs and other suppliers. We rely on our representatives, advertisements and reputation to generate opportunities to purchase and sell engines and aircraft. The market for purchasing engine and aircraft portfolios is highly competitive, generally involving an auction bidding process. We can give no assurance that engines and aircraft will continue to be available to us on acceptable terms and in the types and quantities we seek consistent with the diversification requirements of our debt facilities and our portfolio diversification goals.

 

Substantially all of our assets are pledged to our creditors.

 

Substantially all of our assets are pledged to secure our obligations to creditors. Our revolving credit banks have a lien on all of our assets, including our equity in WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV. Due to WEST II’s, WEST III’s and WEST IV’s bankruptcy remote structure, that equity is subject to the prior payments of WEST II’s, WEST III’s and WEST IV’s debt and other obligations. Therefore, our rights and the rights of our creditors to participate in any distribution of the assets of WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV upon liquidation, reorganization, dissolution or winding up will be subject to

the prior claims of WEST II’s, WEST III’s and WEST IV’s creditors. Similarly, the rights of our shareholders are subject to satisfaction of the claims of our lenders and other creditors.

 

We may be unable to manage the expansion of our operations.

 

We can give no assurance that we will be able to manage effectively the current and potential expansion of our operations, or that if we are successful expanding our operations that our systems, procedures or controls will be adequate to support our operations, in which event our business, financial condition, results and cash flows could be adversely affected.

 

Any acquisition or expansion involves various risks, which may include some or all of the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any of the above factors could have a material adverse effect on us.

 

Compliance with the regulatory requirements imposed on us as a public company results in significant costs that may have an adverse effect on our results.

 

As a public company, we are subject to various regulatory requirements including, but not limited to, compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. Compliance with these regulations results in significant additional costs to us both directly, through increased audit and consulting fees, and indirectly, through the time required by our limited resources to address such regulations. We have complied with Section 404a of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act since December 31, 2007, completing our annual assessment of internal controls over financial reporting. We have complied with Section 404b of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act since December 31, 2009, and our independent registered public accounting firm audits our internal controls over financial reporting. Such compliance requires us to incur additional costs on audit and consulting fees and requires additional management time that may adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.

 

We are subject to governmental regulation and our failure to comply with these regulations could cause the government to withdraw or revoke our authorizations and approvals to do business and could subject us to penalties and sanctions that could harm our business.

 

Governmental agencies throughout the world, including the FAA, highly regulate the manufacture, repair and operation of all aircraft operated in the United States and equivalent regulatory agencies in other countries, such as the EASA in Europe, regulate aircraft operated in those countries. We include, with the aircraft, engines and related parts that

we purchase, lease and sell to our customers, documentation certifying that each part complies with applicable regulatory requirements and meets applicable standards of airworthiness established by the FAA or the equivalent regulatory agencies in other countries. Specific regulations vary from country to country, although regulatory requirements in other countries are generally satisfied by compliance with FAA requirements. With respect to a particular engine or engine component, we utilize FAA and/or EASA certified repair stations to repair and certify engines and components to ensure marketability. The revocation or suspension of any of our material authorizations or approvals would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. New and more stringent government regulations, if adopted and enacted, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, certain product sales to foreign countries require approval or licensing from the U.S. government.  Denial of export licenses could reduce our sales to those countries and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

We are effectively controlled by one principal stockholder, who has the power to contest the outcome of most matters submitted to the stockholders for approval and to affect our stock prices adversely if he were to sell substantial amounts of his common stock.

 

Charles F. Willis, IV is the founder of WLFC, has served as Chief Executive Officer and a Director since our incorporation in 1985, served as President until July 2011, and has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since 1996. Mr. Willis has over 45 years of experience in the aviation industry which includes serving as President of Willis Lease’s predecessor, Charles F. Willis Company, which purchased, financed and sold a variety of large commercial transport aircraft and provided consulting services to the aviation industry,  Assistant Vice President of Sales at Seaboard World Airlines, a freight carrier, and various positions at Alaska Airlines, including positions in the flight operations, sales and marketing departments. As our founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Willis brings to the Board significant senior leadership, sales and marketing, industry, technical and global experience, as well as a deep institutional knowledge of the Company, its operations and customer relations.

 

As of December 31, 2018, Mr. Willis beneficially owned or had the ability to direct the voting of 2,820,480 shares of our common stock, representing approximately 45% of the outstanding shares of our common stock. As a result, Mr. Willis effectively controls us and has the power to contest the outcome of substantially all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of our board of directors. In addition, future sales by Mr. Willis of substantial amounts of our common stock, or the potential for such sales, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock.

 

Our business might suffer if we were to lose the services of certain key employees.

 

Our business operations depend upon our key employees, including our executive officers. Loss of any of these employees, particularly our Chief Executive Officer, could have a material adverse effect on our business as our key employees have knowledge of our industry and customers and would be difficult to replace.

 

We are the servicer and administrative agent for the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV facilities and our cash flows would be materially and adversely affected if we were removed from these positions.

 

We are the servicer and administrative agent with respect to engines in the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV facilities. We receive monthly fees of 11.5% as servicer (3.5% of which is subordinated in the cases of WEST III and WEST IV) and 2.0% as administrative agent of the aggregate net rents actually received by WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV on their engines. We may be removed as servicer and or administrative agent of our WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV facilities, by an affirmative vote of a requisite number of the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV note holders.  Such vote could happen upon the occurrence of certain specified events as outlined in the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV servicing and administrative agency agreements.

 

As of December 31, 2018, we were in compliance with the financial covenants set forth in the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV servicing and administrative agency agreements. There can be no assurance that we will be in compliance with these covenants in the future or will not otherwise be terminated as service or administrative agent for the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV facilities. If we are removed from such role with those facilities, our expenses would increase as our variable interest entities (“VIE’s”) WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV, would have to hire an outside provider to

replace the servicer and administrative agent functions, and we would be materially and adversely affected. Consequently, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows would be adversely affected.

 

Provisions in Delaware law and our charter and bylaws might prevent or delay a change of control.

 

Certain provisions of law, our amended certificate of incorporation, bylaws and amended rights agreement could make the following more difficult: (1) an acquisition of us by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or otherwise, and (2) the removal of incumbent officers and directors.

 

Our board of directors has authorized the issuance of shares of 6.5% Series A Preferred Stock and 6.5% Series A-2 Preferred Stock, by us and to Development Bank of Japan Inc. (“DBJ”) with American Stock Transfer and Trust Company, serving as rights agent. The rights agreement could make it more difficult to proceed with and tend to discourage a merger, tender offer or proxy contest. Our amended certificate of incorporation also provides that stockholder action can be taken only at an annual or special meeting of stockholders and may not be taken by written consent and, in certain circumstances relating to acquisitions or other changes in control, requires an 80% supermajority vote of all outstanding shares of our common stock. Our bylaws also limit the ability of stockholders to raise matters at a meeting of stockholders without giving advance notice.

 

ITEM 2.PROPERTIES  

 

Our principal offices are located in Coconut Creek, Florida where we own 26,500 square feet of office and warehouse space. We also own 30,000 square feet of office and warehouse space in Bridgend, Wales, UK. We sub-lease 7,124 square feet of office and warehouse space for our operations in San Diego, California. We lease 30,000 square feet of office and warehouse space in Boynton Beach, Florida and 5,952 square feet of office space in Dublin, Ireland.  We also lease facilities for sales and operations in Larkspur, CA; West Palm Beach, FL; London, UK; Shanghai, China; Singapore; and Blagnac, France.

 

The Company’s Leasing and Related Operations segment conducts business in all of the properties above. The Spare Parts segment primarily conducts business in the Boynton Beach, FL and Coconut Creek, FL facilities.

 

ITEM 3.LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

None.

 

ITEM 4.SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS

 

No matters were submitted to a vote of stockholders during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2018.

 

PART II

 

ITEM 5.MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY AND RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS

 

The following information relates to our Common Stock, which is listed on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol WLFC. As of March 11, 2019, there were approximately 2,081 shareholders of our Common Stock.

 

The high and low closing sales price of the Common Stock for each quarter of 2018 and 2017, as reported by NASDAQ, are set forth below:

 

 

 

We have not made any dividend payments to our common shareholders since our inception as all available cash has been utilized for the business. We have no intention of paying dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. In addition, certain of our debt facilities contain negative covenants which, in certain situations, prohibit us from paying any dividends or making distributions of any kind with respect to our common stock. The Series A-1 and Series A-2 Preferred Stock carry a quarterly dividend at the rate per annum of 6.5% per share, with a $20.00 liquidation preference per share.

 

The following table outlines our Equity Compensation Plan Information.

 

 

 

The 2007 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2007 Plan”) was adopted on May 24, 2007. Under this 2007 Plan, a total of 2,800,000 shares are authorized for stock based compensation available in the form of either restricted stock awards (“RSA’s”) or stock options. The RSA’s are subject to service-based vesting, typically between one and four years, where a specific period of continued employment must pass before an award vests. The expense associated with these awards is recognized on a straight-line basis over the respective vesting period, with forfeitures accounted for as they occur. For any vesting tranche of an award, the cumulative amount of compensation cost recognized is equal to the portion of the grant‑date fair value of the award tranche that is actually vested at that date. There are no stock options outstanding under the 2007 Plan.

   

The 2018 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”) was adopted on May 24, 2018. Under this 2018 Plan, a total of 800,000 shares are authorized for stock based compensation, plus the number of shares remaining under the 2007 Plan and any future forfeited awards under the 2007 and 2018 Plans, in the form of RSA’s. The RSA’s are subject to service-based vesting, typically between one and four years, where a specific period of continued employment must pass before an award vests. The expense associated with these awards is recognized on a straight-line basis over the respective vesting period, with forfeitures accounted for as they occur. For any vesting tranche of an award, the cumulative amount of compensation cost recognized is equal to the portion of the grant‑date fair value of the award tranche that is actually vested at that date.

   

As of December 31, 2018, the Company has granted 2,885,914 RSA’s under the 2007 Plan. Of this amount, 176,644 shares were cancelled and returned to the pool of shares which could be granted under the 2018 Plan resulting in a net

number of 890,730 shares available for future issuance. The fair value of the RSA’s equaled the stock price at the grant date.

   

As of December 31, 2018, the Company has not granted RSA’s under the 2018 Plan.

 

On September 27, 2012, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized a plan to repurchase up to $100.0 million of its common stock over the next 5 years. Shares repurchased are immediately retired. The Board of Directors reaffirmed the repurchase plan in 2016 and extended the plan to December 31, 2018.  During 2018, the Company repurchased 471,595 shares totaling $16.2 million under our authorized plan. As of December 31, 2018, the total number of common shares outstanding was approximately 6.2 million.

 

Effective as of December 31, 2018, the Board of Directors approved the renewal of the repurchase plan extending the plan through December 31, 2020 and amending the plan to allow for repurchases of up to $60 million of the Company’s common stock until such date.

 

Common stock repurchases, under our authorized plan, in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018 were as follows:

 

 

 

Performance Comparison Graph

 

The following graph depicts the total return to shareholders from December 31, 2013 through December 31, 2018, relative to the performance of the NASDAQ Composite Index and NASDAQ 100 Financial Index, a peer group that includes WLFC. All indices shown in the graph have been reset to a base of 100 as of December 31, 2013, and assume an investment of $100 on that date. The stock price performance shown in the graph is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.

 

ITEM 6.SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

The following table summarizes our selected consolidated financial data and operating information. The selected consolidated financial and operating data should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

OVERVIEW

 

Forward-Looking Statements. This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding prospects or future results of operations or financial position, made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are forward-looking. We use words such as anticipates, believes, expects, future, intends, and similar

expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, among others: the effects on the airline industry and the global economy of events such as terrorist activity, changes in oil prices and other disruptions to the world markets; trends in the airline industry and our ability to capitalize on those trends, including growth rates of markets and other economic factors; risks associated with owning and leasing jet engines and aircraft; our ability to successfully negotiate equipment purchases, sales and leases, to collect outstanding amounts due and to control costs and expenses; changes in interest rates and availability of capital, both to us and our customers; our ability to continue to meet the changing customer demands; regulatory changes affecting airline operations, aircraft maintenance, accounting standards and taxes; and the market value of engines and other assets in our portfolio. These risks and uncertainties, as well as other risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from management’s expectations, are described in greater detail in Item 1A “Risk Factors” of Part I which, along with the previous discussion, describes some, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from management’s expectations.

 

General. Our core business is acquiring and leasing commercial aircraft and aircraft engines and related aircraft equipment pursuant to operating leases, all of which we sometimes refer to as “equipment.” As of December 31, 2018, all of our leases were operating leases. As of December 31, 2018, we had 81 lessees in 47 countries. Our portfolio is continually changing due to acquisitions and sales. As of December 31, 2018, our lease portfolio consisted of 244 engines, 17 aircraft and 10 other leased parts and equipment with an aggregate net book value of $1,673.1 million. As of December 31, 2018, we also managed 440 engines and related equipment on behalf of other parties. 

 

In 2013 we launched Willis Aero, a wholly-owned subsidiary, whose primary focus is the sale of aircraft engine parts and materials through the acquisition or consignment of aircraft and engines.

 

In 2016 we purchased, through our wholly owned subsidiary Willis Asset Management, the business and assets of TES. TES was the engine management and consulting business of the TES Aviation Group.

 

In 2011 we entered into an agreement with Mitsui & Co., Ltd. to participate in a joint venture formed as a Dublin-based Irish limited company —WMES for the purpose of acquiring and leasing jet engines. Each partner holds a fifty percent interest in the joint venture. WMES owns a lease portfolio of 32 engines and one aircraft with a net book value of $234.8 million at December 31, 2018. Our investment in the joint venture is $34.2 million as of December 31, 2018.

 

In 2014 we entered into an agreement with CASC to participate in CASC Willis, a new joint venture based in Shanghai, China. Each partner holds a fifty percent interest in the joint venture. The company acquires and leases jet engines to Chinese airlines and concentrates on meeting the fast growing demand for leased commercial aircraft engines and aviation assets in the People’s Republic of China. During 2016, CASC was reorganized, with portions of its partnership interest in CASC Willis being transferred to three Chinese airlines and another government-owned entity. The 2016 CASC reorganization resulted in no voting structure change to the joint venture. CASC Willis owned a lease portfolio of 4 engines with a net book value of $51.9 million as of December 31, 2018. Our investment in the joint venture is $13.8 million as of December 31, 2018.

 

We actively manage our portfolio and structure our leases to maximize the residual values of our leased assets. Our leasing business focuses on popular Stage IV commercial jet engines manufactured by CFMI, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce and International Aero Engines. These engines are the most widely used engines in the world, powering Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer aircraft.

 

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

 

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to residual values, estimated asset lives, impairments and bad debts. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities

that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

 

We believe the following critical accounting policies, grouped by our activities, affect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements:

 

Leasing Related Activities. Revenue from leasing of aircraft equipment is recognized as operating lease revenue on a straight-line basis over the terms of the applicable lease agreements. Where collection cannot be reasonably assured, for example, upon a lessee bankruptcy, we do not recognize revenue until cash is received. We also estimate and charge to income a provision for bad debts based on our experience in the business and with each specific customer and the level of past due accounts. The financial condition of our customers may deteriorate and result in actual losses exceeding the estimated allowances. In addition, any deterioration in the financial condition of our customers may adversely affect future lease revenues. As of December 31, 2018, all of our engine leases are accounted for as operating leases. Under an operating lease, we retain title to the leased equipment, thereby retaining the potential benefit and assuming the risk of the residual value of the leased equipment. 

 

We generally depreciate engines on a straight-line basis over 15 years to a 55% residual value. Aircraft and airframes are generally depreciated on a straight-line basis over 13 to 20 years to a 15% to 17% residual value. Other leased parts and equipment are generally depreciated on a straight-line basis over 14 to 15 years to a 25% residual value. Major overhauls paid for by us, which improve functionality or extend the original useful life, are capitalized and depreciated over the shorter of the estimated period to the next overhaul (“deferral method”) or the remaining useful life of the equipment. We do not accrue for planned major maintenance. For equipment which is unlikely to be repaired at the end of its current expected life, and is likely to be disassembled upon lease termination, we depreciate the equipment over its estimated life to a residual value based on an estimate of the wholesale value of the parts after disassembly. As of December 31, 2018, 34 engines having a net book value of $46.3 million were depreciated under this policy with estimated useful lives ranging from 1 to 80 months.

 

Asset Valuation. Long-lived assets and certain identifiable intangibles to be held and used are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable, and long-lived assets and certain identifiable intangibles to be disposed of are reported at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell.

 

On a quarterly basis, management monitors the lease portfolio for events which may indicate that a particular asset may need to be evaluated for potential impairment. These events may include a decision to part-out or sell an asset, knowledge of specific damage to an asset, or supply/demand events which may impact the Company’s ability to lease an asset in the future. On an annual basis, even absent any such ‘triggering event’, we evaluate the carrying value of the assets in our lease portfolio to determine if any impairment exists.

 

Impairment may be identified by several factors, including, comparison of estimated sales proceeds or undiscounted forecasted cash flows over the life of the asset with the asset’s book value. If the forecasted undiscounted cash flows are less than the book value, the asset is written down to its fair value. When evaluating for impairment, we group assets at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other assets and liabilities. In our portfolio, this is at the individual asset level (e.g., engine or aircraft), as each asset generates its own stream of cash flows, including lease rents, maintenance reserves and repair costs.

 

We must make assumptions which underlie the most significant and subjective estimates in determining whether any impairment exists.  Those estimates, and the underlying assumptions, are as follows:

 

 

 

If the undiscounted forecasted cash flows and fair value of our long-lived assets decrease in the future we may incur impairment charges.

 

Management continuously monitors the aviation industry and evaluates any trends, events or uncertainties involving airlines, individual aircraft and engine models, as well as the engine leasing and sale market which would materially affect the methodology or assumptions employed by WLFC. We do not consider there to be any trends, events or uncertainties that currently exist or that are reasonably likely to occur that would materially affect our methodology or assumptions. However, should any arise, we will adjust our methodology and our disclosure accordingly.

 

Spare parts inventory is stated at lower of cost or net realizable value. An impairment charge for excess or inactive inventory is recorded based upon an analysis that considers current inventory levels, historical usage patterns, future sales expectations and salvage value.

 

Accounting for Maintenance Expenditures and Maintenance Reserves. Use fees received are recognized in revenue as maintenance reserve revenue if they are not reimbursable to the lessee. Use fees that are reimbursable are recorded as a maintenance reserve liability until they are reimbursed to the lessee, the lease terminates, or the obligation to reimburse the lessee for such reserves ceases to exist, at which time they are recognized in revenue as maintenance reserve revenue. Our expenditures for maintenance are expensed as incurred. Expenditures that meet the criteria for capitalization are recorded as an addition to equipment recorded on the balance sheet.

 

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

   

The most recent adopted and to be adopted accounting pronouncements are described in Note 1(w) to our Consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

 

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Year Ended December 31, 2018 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2017

 

Revenue is summarized as follows:

 

 

 

Lease Rent Revenue. Our lease rent revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by 34.7% over the comparable period in 2017. Lease rent revenue consists of rental income from long-term and short-term engine leases, aircraft leases, and other leased parts and equipment. The increase is primarily driven by an increase in lease rates and

increased net book value of the leased assets.  The aggregate net book value of equipment held for lease at December 31, 2018 and 2017, was $1,673.1 million and $1,342.6 million, respectively, an increase of 24.6%. During the year ended December 31, 2018, 38 engines and 7 aircraft were added to our lease portfolio at a total cost of $421.9 million (including capitalized costs). During the year ended December 31, 2017, 30 engines and 10 aircraft were added to our lease portfolio at a total cost of $336.1 million (including capitalized costs).

 

Maintenance Reserve Revenue. Our maintenance reserve revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased 8.5% to $87.0 million from $80.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The $6.8 million increase is primarily related to the increase in engines out on lease with “non-reimbursable” usage fees, generating $63.7 million of short term maintenance revenues compared to $44.2 million of short term maintenance revenues generated in the comparable prior period. Long term maintenance revenue decreased to $23.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $36.0 million in 2017 as a result of fewer long-term leases coming to an end during 2018 as compared to the prior year.

 

Spare Parts and Equipment Sales. Spare parts and equipment sales for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased by $19.7 million to $71.1 million compared to $51.4 million in 2017. Spare parts sales for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $50.0 million compared to $29.1 million in 2017. Equipment sales for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $21.1 million for the sale of two engines compared to $22.3 million for the sale of six airframes in the comparable period of 2017. As a result of the implementation of ASC 606, the Company reclassified sales of engines from its leasing portfolio by its spare parts segment from net Gain on sale of leased equipment to Spare parts and equipment sales and Cost of spare parts and equipment sales. Additionally, as a result of this implementation, the Company recorded these sales on a gross basis in 2018 which impacted Spare parts and equipment sales by an additional $16.4 million.

 

Gain on Sale of Leased Equipment. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we sold 14 engines, six aircraft, one airframe and other related equipment from the lease portfolio for a net gain of $6.9 million. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we sold 11 engines and other related equipment from the lease portfolio for a net gain of $4.9 million. As a result of the implementation of ASC 606, the Company reclassified sales of engines from its leasing portfolio by its spare parts segment from Gain on sale of leased equipment to Spare parts and equipment sales. Additionally, as a result of this implementation, the Company recorded these sales on a gross basis in 2018 which reduced the net Gain on sale of leased equipment by $0.7 million.

 

Other Revenue. Other revenue consists primarily of management fee income, lease administration fees, third party consignment commissions, service fee revenue, and other discrete revenue items. During the year ended December 31, 2017, Other revenue included a net gain on an insurance settlement of $1.3 million related to a leased aircraft.

 

Depreciation and Amortization Expense. Depreciation and amortization expense increased $10.8 million or 16.3% to $76.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase in depreciation is associated with growth in our lease portfolio and the related larger net book value of the lease portfolio.

 

Cost of Spare Parts and Equipment Sales. Cost of spare parts and equipment sales for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $61.0 million, an increase of 49.4% from 2017. Cost of spare parts sales for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $41.5 million compared to $23.5 million in 2017. Cost of equipment sales was $19.5 million and $17.3 million in the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As a result of the implementation of ASC 606, the Company reclassified sales of engines from its leasing portfolio by its spare parts segment from net Gain on sale of leased equipment to Spare parts and equipment sales and Cost of spare parts and equipment sales. Additionally, as a result of this implementation, the Company recorded these sales on a gross basis in 2018 which impacted Cost of spare parts and equipment sales by an additional $15.7 million.

 

Write-down of Equipment. Write-down of equipment to their estimated fair values totaled $10.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, a decrease of $14.3 million from the $24.9 million in 2017. The $10.7 million write-down in 2018 reflects the write-down of seven engines and seven airframe parts packages. A write-down of $21.6 million was recorded due to the adjustment of the carrying value for nine impaired engines and five impaired aircraft within the portfolio to reflect estimated market value for the year ended December 31, 2017. The decrease in write-downs of equipment in 2018 reflects more engines out on long-term lease, which carry significant long term maintenance reserves, as compared to the prior year.

 

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased 29.2% to $72.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to $55.7 million in 2017. The increase, when compared to the prior year period, primarily reflects additional expenses associated with the transition of personnel to our new Coconut Creek facility, other transition related expenses, and increased bonus accrual due to operating performance.

 

Technical Expense. Technical expenses consist of the cost of engine repairs, engine thrust rental fees, outsourced technical support services, sublease engine rental expense, engine storage and freight costs. These expenses increased 14.5% to $11.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to $9.7 million in 2017. The increase is due primarily to an increase of $0.6 million in engine maintenance costs and an increase of $0.9 million in engine freight costs, both associated with the underlying growth of the business.

 

Net Finance Costs.  Net finance costs, which primarily reflects interest expense, increased 31.8% to $64.2 million in the year ended December 31, 2018, from $48.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. This increase is a result of higher debt obligation balances and increased borrowing cost in 2018 associated with our LIBOR based borrowings and a full year of interest under the WEST III notes and partial year of interest under the WEST IV notes. Debt obligations outstanding, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, were $1,337.3 million and $1,085.4 million, respectively, of which $427.0 million and $501.3, respectively, was tied to one-month LIBOR. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017 one-month LIBOR was 2.50% and 1.57%, respectively.

 

Income Taxes. Income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 increased to $13.0 million from $(26.1) million for the comparable period in 2017. The effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 was 23.2% and (72.6)%, respectively. This change was due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “2017 Act”) that was signed into law making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code, decreasing federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, lower forecasted permanent non-deductible expenses for executive compensation (IRS code 162(m) calculation) and changes in the proportions of revenue generated within and outside of California.

 

Year Ended December 31, 2017 Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2016

 

Revenue is summarized as follows:

 

 

Lease Rent Revenue. Our lease rent revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased by 8.7% over the comparable period in 2016. Lease rent revenue consists of rental income from long-term and short-term engine leases, aircraft leases, and other leased parts and equipment. The increase is primarily driven by an increase in lease rates and increased net book value of the leased assets.  The aggregate net book value of equipment held for lease at December 31, 2017 and 2016, was $1,342.6 million and $1,136.6 million, respectively, an increase of 18.1%. During the year ended December 31, 2017, 30 engines and 10 aircraft were added to our lease portfolio at a total cost of $336.1 million (including capitalized costs). During the year ended December 31, 2016, 20 engines and 1 aircraft were added to our lease portfolio at a total cost of $153.1 million (including capitalized costs).

 

Maintenance Reserve Revenue. Our maintenance reserve revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased 40.5% to $80.2 million from $57.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. The $23.1 million increase is primarily related to the termination of nine engines coming off of long-term reimbursable leases, generating $36.0 million of long term maintenance revenues compared to $14.8 million of long term maintenance revenues generated in the comparable prior period by seven engines coming off long-term lease. 

 

Spare Parts and Equipment Sales. Spare parts and equipment sales for the year ended December 31, 2017 increased by $33.6 million to $51.4 million compared to $17.8 million in 2016. Spare parts sales for the year ended December 31, 2017 were $29.1 million compared to $14.5 million in the comparable period in 2016. Equipment sales of $22.3 million were for the sale of six airframes during the year ended December 31, 2017. Equipment sales of $3.3 million were for the sale of three airframes during the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

Gain on Sale of Leased Equipment. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we sold eleven engines and other related equipment from the lease portfolio for a net gain of $4.9 million. During the year ended December 31, 2016, we sold seven engines, one airframe and other related equipment from the lease portfolio for a net gain of $3.5 million.

 

Other Revenue. Our Other revenue consists primarily of management fee income, lease administration fees, third party consignment commissions earned by Willis Aero and other discrete revenue items. During the year ended December 31, 2017, other revenue included a net gain on an insurance settlement of $1.3 million related to a leased aircraft, fees earned related to engines managed on behalf of third parties and service fee revenue earned by Willis Asset Management. During the year ended December 31, 2016, Other revenue included $4.0 million of security payments for aircraft upon default of a lessee and a $0.6 million foreign subsidy recognized in the period. The foreign subsidy was received from the People’s Republic of China resulting from our China subsidiary operating in the Shanghai free trade zone.

 

Depreciation and Amortization Expense. Depreciation and amortization expense was relatively consistent with the prior year period, decreasing $0.3 million or 0.4% to $66.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The slight decrease reflects changes in portfolio mix associated with our ongoing portfolio management efforts, partially offset by an increase in depreciation associated with the larger net book value of the lease portfolio.

 

Cost of Spare Parts and Equipment Sales. Cost of spare parts and equipment sales for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $40.8 million, an increase of 207.3% from 2016. Cost of spare parts sales for the year ended December 31, 2017 were $23.5 million compared to $10.7 million in 2016. Gross margin on spare parts sales for 2017 was 19.0% compared to 24.6% for 2016 primarily due to a change in the mix of parts sold in 2017. Cost of equipment sales was $17.3 million and $2.4 million in the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. 

 

Write-down of Equipment. Write-down of equipment to their estimated fair values totaled $24.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, an increase of $15.4 million from the $9.5 million in 2016. This increase primarily reflects a write-down of $21.6 million recorded in 2017 for the adjustment of the carrying value of nine impaired engines and five impaired aircraft within the portfolio to reflect estimated market value.

 

A write-down of $5.5 million was recorded due to the adjustment of the carrying value for six impaired engines and one impaired aircraft within the portfolio to reflect estimated market value for the year ended December 31, 2016. A further write-down of equipment totaling $2.0 million was recorded in the year ended December 31, 2016 due to a management decision to consign one engine for part-out and sale, in which the asset’s net book value exceeded the estimated proceeds. An additional write-down of $2.0 million was recorded in year ended December 31, 2016 to adjust the carrying value of engine parts held on consignment for which market conditions for the sale of parts has changed.

 

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased 16.7% to $55.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, from the prior year period in 2016, due primarily to higher personnel expense from the increase in headcount from the TES acquisition and increased rent and office expense.

 

Technical Expense. Technical expenses consist of the cost of engine repairs, engine thrust rental fees, outsourced technical support services, sublease engine rental expense, engine storage and freight costs. These expenses increased 39.1% to $9.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, from 2016 due primarily to an increase of $1.7 million in engine maintenance costs and an increase of $0.5 million in engine freight costs, both associated with the underlying growth of the business.

 

Net Finance Costs.  Net finance costs, which primarily reflects interest expense, increased 18.0% to $48.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2017, from $41.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2016. This increase is a result of higher debt obligation balances and increased borrowing cost in 2017 associated with our LIBOR based borrowings and

our WEST III notes. Debt obligations outstanding, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, were $1,085.4 million and $900.3 million, respectively, of which $501.3 million and $339.4, respectively, was tied to one-month LIBOR. As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, one-month LIBOR was 1.57% and 0.77%, respectively.

 

Income Taxes. Income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2017, decreased to $(26.1) million from $9.9 million for the comparable period in 2016. The effective tax rate for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were (72.6)% and 41.2%, respectively. This decrease was due to the 2017 Act that was signed into law making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code, decreasing federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, lower forecasted permanent non-deductible expenses for executive compensation (IRS code 162(m) calculation) and changes in the proportions of revenue generated within and outside of California during the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

 Our tax rate is subject to change based on changes in the mix of assets leased to domestic and foreign lessees, the proportions of revenue generated within and outside of California, the amount of executive compensation exceeding $1.0 million as defined in IRS code 162(m) and numerous other factors, including changes in tax law.

 

FINANCIAL POSITION, LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

 

At December 31, 2018, the Company had $81.9 million of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash. At December 31, 2018, $5.8 million in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash were held in foreign subsidiaries. We do not intend to repatriate the funds held in foreign subsidiaries to the United States. In the event that we decide to repatriate these funds to the United States, we would be required to accrue and pay taxes upon the repatriation.

 

We finance our growth through borrowings secured by our equipment lease portfolio. Cash of approximately $759.4 million, $686.2 million and $149.0 million, in the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively, was derived from this borrowing activity. In these same time periods $504.8 million, $496.2 million and $114.0 million, respectively, was used to pay down related debt.

 

Preferred Stock Dividends

 

On October 11, 2016, the Company entered into a stock purchase agreement with Development Bank of Japan Inc. (“DBJ”), relating to the sale and issuance of an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s 6.5% Series A Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share (the “Series A Preferred Stock”) at a purchase price of $20.00 per share. The purchase and sale of the Series A Preferred Stock closed on October 14, 2016. The net proceeds to the Company after deducting investor fees were $19.8 million.

 

On September 22, 2017, the Company entered into a second stock purchase agreement with DBJ relating to the sale and issuance of an aggregate of 1,500,000 shares of the Company’s 6.5% Series A-2 Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share (the “Series A-2 Preferred Stock”) at a purchase price of $20.00 per share. The purchase and sale of the Series A-2 Preferred Stock closed on September 27, 2017. The net proceeds to the Company after deducting issuance costs were $29.7 million.

 

The Company’s Series A-1 Preferred Stock and Series A-2 Preferred Stock accrue quarterly dividends at the rate per annum of 6.5% per share. During the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Company paid total dividends of $3.3 million, $1.3 million, and nil on the Series A-1 and Series A-2 Preferred Stock, respectively.

 

Cash Flows Discussion

 

Cash flows provided by operating activities were $188.7 million, $137.1 million and $91.6 million in the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

 

Cash flows from operations are driven significantly by payments made under our lease agreements, which comprise lease revenue, security deposits and maintenance reserves, and are offset by interest expense and general and administrative costs. Cash received as maintenance reserve payments for some of our engines on lease are partially restricted by our debt

arrangements. The lease revenue stream, in the short-term, is at fixed rates while a portion of our debt is at variable rates. If interest rates increase, it is unlikely we could increase lease rates in the short term and this would cause a reduction in our earnings and operating cash flows. Revenue and maintenance reserves are also affected by the amount of equipment off lease. Approximately 88% and 89%, by book value, of our assets were on-lease as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. The average utilization rate for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 was approximately 89% and 90%, respectively. If there is an increase in off-lease rates or deterioration in lease rates that are not offset by reductions in interest rates, there will be a negative impact on earnings and cash flows from operations.

 

Distributions received from our investment in WMES were $5.7 million, $1.9 million and $1.2 million in the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

 

Cash flows used in investing activities were  $380.5 million, $325.6 million and $123.2 million in the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. Our primary use of funds is for the purchase of equipment for lease and for sale. Purchases of equipment (including capitalized costs and prepaid deposits) totaled $441.4 million, $373.5 million and $173.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively.

 

Cash flows provided by financing activities were  $226.4 million, $203.4 million and $21.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively. Cash flows provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily reflected $759.4 million in proceeds from the issuance of debt obligations, partly offset by $504.8 million in principal payments and $16.1 million in share repurchases. Cash flows provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 primarily reflected $686.2 million in proceeds from the issuance of debt obligations, partly offset by $496.2 million in principal payments and $3.5 million in share repurchases. Cash flows provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2016 primarily reflected $149.0 million in proceeds from the issuance of debt obligations, partly offset by $114.0 million in principal payments and $29.0 million in share repurchases.

 

Debt Obligations and Covenant Compliance

 

On August 22, 2018, WEST IV, a consolidated VIE of the Company closed its offering of $373.4 million in aggregate principal amount of fixed rate notes (the “WEST IV Notes”). The WEST IV Notes were issued in two series, with the Series A Notes issued in an aggregate principal amount of $326.8 million and the Series B Notes in an aggregate principal amount of $46.7 million. The WEST IV Notes are secured by, among other things, WEST IV’s direct and indirect interests in a portfolio of 55 engines and one airframe.

 

The Series A Notes have a fixed coupon of 4.75%, an expected maturity of approximately eight years and a final maturity date of September 15, 2043 and Series B Notes will have a fixed coupon of 5.44%, an expected maturity of approximately eight years and a final maturity date of September 15, 2043. The Series A Notes were issued at a price of 99.99504% of par and the Series B Notes were issued at a price of 99.99853% of par. Principal and interest on the WEST IV Notes are payable monthly to the extent of available cash in accordance with a priority of payments included in the indenture. Proceeds from asset sales by WEST IV will be used, at WEST IV’s election subject to certain conditions, to reduce WEST IV’s debt or to acquire other engines or airframes.

 

The assets of WEST IV are not available to satisfy our or our affiliates’ obligations other than the obligations specific to WEST IV. WEST IV is consolidated for financial statement presentation purposes. WEST IV’s ability to make distributions and pay dividends to the Company is subject to the prior payments of its debt and other obligations and WEST IV’s maintenance of adequate reserves and capital. Under WEST IV, cash is collected in a restricted account, which is used to service the debt and any remaining amounts, after debt service and defined expenses, are distributed to the Company. Additionally, a portion of the maintenance reserve payments and lease security deposits are formulaically accumulated in restricted accounts and are available to fund future maintenance events and to secure lease payments, respectively.

 

At December 31, 2018, debt obligations consists of loans totaling $1,337.3 million, net of unamortized issuance costs,  payable with interest rates varying between approximately 2.6% and 6.4%. Substantially all of our assets are pledged to secure our obligations to creditors. For further information on our debt instruments, see Note 5 "Debt Obligations" in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.

 

Virtually all of the above debt requires our ongoing compliance with the covenants of each financing, including debt/equity ratios, minimum tangible net worth and minimum interest coverage ratios, and other eligibility criteria including customer and geographic concentration restrictions. Under our revolving credit facility, we can typically borrow up to 85% of an engine’s net book value and 65% of spare part’s net book value. Therefore we must have other available funds for the balance of the purchase price of any new equipment to be purchased or we will not be permitted to draw on our revolver. The facilities are also cross-defaulted against other facilities. If we do not comply with the covenants or eligibility requirements, we may not be permitted to borrow additional funds and accelerated payments may become necessary. Additionally, much of the above debt is secured by engines and aircraft to the extent that engines or aircraft are sold, repayment of that portion of the debt could be required.

 

At December 31, 2018, we are in compliance with the covenants specified in the revolving credit facility, including the Interest Coverage Ratio requirement of at least 2.25 to 1.00, and the Total Leverage Ratio requirement to remain below 4.25 to 1.00. The Interest Coverage Ratio, as defined in the credit facility, is the ratio of: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and other one-time charges to consolidated interest expense.  The Total Leverage Ratio, as defined in the credit facility, is the ratio of total indebtedness to tangible net worth. At December 31, 2018, we are in compliance with the covenants specified in the WEST II, WEST III and WEST IV indentures, servicing and other debt related agreements.

 

Contractual Obligation and Commitments

 

Repayments of our gross debt obligations primarily consist of scheduled installments due under term loans and are funded by the use of unrestricted cash reserves and from cash flows from ongoing operations. The table below summarizes our contractual commitments at December 31, 2018:

 

 

 

We have estimated the interest payments due under debt obligations by applying the interest rates applicable at December 31, 2018 to the remaining debt, adjusted for the estimated debt repayments identified in the table above. Actual interest payments made will vary due to actual changes in the rates for one-month LIBOR and the total debt outstanding in the specified periods.

 

We believe our equity base, internally generated funds and existing debt facilities are sufficient to maintain our level of operations through 2019. A decline in the level of internally generated funds could result if the amount of equipment off-lease increases, there is a decrease in availability under our existing debt facilities, or there is a significant step-up in borrowing costs. Such decline would impair our ability to sustain our level of operations. We continue to discuss additions to our capital base with our commercial and investment banks. If we are not able to access additional capital, our ability to continue to grow our asset base consistent with historical trends will be impaired and our future growth limited to that which can be funded from internally generated capital.

 

MANAGEMENT OF INTEREST RATE EXPOSURE

 

At December 31, 2018, $427.0 million of our borrowings were on a variable rate basis at various interest rates tied to one-month LIBOR. Our equipment leases are generally structured at fixed rental rates for specified terms. Increases in interest rates could narrow or result in a negative spread between the rental revenue we realize under our leases and the interest rate that we pay under our borrowings. Historically, we have entered into interest rate derivative instruments to mitigate our exposure to interest rate risk and not to speculate or trade in these derivative products. During 2016, we

entered into one interest rate swap agreement which has notional outstanding amount of $100.0 million, which has a remaining term of 28 months as of December 31, 2018. The fair value of the swap at December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $1.7 million and $1.1 million, respectively, representing a net asset for us. 

 

We record derivative instruments at fair value as either an asset or liability. We have used derivative instruments (primarily interest rate swaps) to manage the risk of interest rate fluctuation. While substantially all our derivative transactions are entered into for the purposes described above, hedge accounting is only applied where specific criteria have been met and it is practicable to do so. In order to apply hedge accounting, the transaction must be designated as a hedge and the hedge relationship must be highly effective. The hedging instrument’s effectiveness is assessed utilizing regression analysis at the inception of the hedge and on at least a quarterly basis throughout its life. All of the transactions that we have designated as hedges are accounted for as cash flow hedges. The effective portion of the gain or loss on a derivative instrument designated as a cash flow hedge is reported as a component of other comprehensive income and is reclassified into earnings in the period during which the transaction being hedged affects earnings. The ineffective portion of these hedges flows through earnings in the current period. The hedge accounting for these derivative instrument arrangements adjusted interest expense by $(0.4) million, $0.6 million, and $25,000 for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. This incremental cost (benefit) for the swaps effective for hedge accounting was included in interest expense for the respective periods.

 

For any interest rate swaps that we enter into, we will be exposed to risk in the event of non-performance of the interest rate hedge counter-parties. We anticipate that we may hedge additional amounts of our floating rate debt in the future.

 

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

Stock Buybacks

 

On April 1, 2016, in a transaction approved by a Special Committee of the Board of Directors, the Company purchased 60,000 shares of its common stock directly from the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Charles F. Willis. The purchase price was $21.59 per share, the closing price of the Company’s common stock as of March 31, 2016.

   

On December 8, 2016, in a transaction approved by a Special Committee of the Board of Directors, the Company purchased 40,000 shares of its common stock directly from the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Charles F. Willis. The purchase price was $24.95 per share, a 2% discount to the closing price of the Company’s common stock as of December 8, 2016 of $25.46.

 

On September 12, 2018, in a transaction approved by a Special Committee of the Board of Directors, the Company purchased 88,000 shares of common stock directly from the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Charles F. Willis. The agreed and paid price per share was $34.2972, the volume weighted average price on September 12, 2018.

 

Joint Ventures

 

“Other revenue” on the Consolidated Statement of Income includes management fees earned of $2.6 million, $2.4 million and $2.1 million during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to the servicing of engines for the WMES lease portfolio. During 2018, the Company sold two engines and one aircraft to WMES for $30.7 million. During 2017, the Company sold two engines to WMES for $14.8 million.

 

During 2017, the Company sold one engine to CASC Willis for $11.2 million.

 

Other

 

During the second quarter of 2018, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer purchased artwork from the Company for $5 thousand. This transaction was approved by the Board’s independent Directors.

 

During the third quarter of 2018, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer utilized the WASI spare parts warehouse to temporarily store personal equipment and reimbursed the Company $450 for such usage.

 

During 2018 and 2017, the Company paid approximately $44,000 and $80,000, respectively, of expenses payable to Mikchalk Lake, LLC, an entity in which our Chief Executive Officer retains an ownership interest.  These expenses were for lodging and other business related services.  These transactions were approved by the Board’s independent Directors.

 

ITEM 7A.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

Our primary market risk exposure is that of interest rate risk. A change in LIBOR rates would affect our cost of borrowing. Increases in interest rates, which may cause us to raise the implicit rates charged to our customers, could result in a reduction in demand for our leases. Alternatively, we may price our leases based on market rates so as to keep the fleet on-lease and suffer a decrease in our operating margin due to interest costs that we are unable to pass on to our customers. As of December 31, 2018, $427.0 million of our outstanding debt is variable rate debt. We estimate that for every one percent increase or decrease in interest rate, the annual interest expense for our variable rate debt, would increase or decrease $3.3 million (in 2017, $4.0 million).

 

We hedge a portion of our borrowings from time to time, effectively fixing the rate of these borrowings. This hedging activity helps protect us against reduced margins on longer term fixed rate leases. Such hedging activities may limit our ability to participate in the benefits of any decrease in interest rates, but may also protect us from increases in interest rates. Furthermore, since lease rates tend to vary with interest rate levels, it is possible that we can adjust lease rates for the effect of change in interest rates at the termination of leases. Other financial assets and liabilities are at fixed rates.

 

We are also exposed to currency devaluation risk. During the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, and 2016, respectively, 77%, 84% and 89% of our total lease rent revenues came from non-United States domiciled lessees. Substantially all of our leases require payment in U.S. dollars. If these lessees’ currency devalues against the U.S. dollar, the lessees could potentially encounter difficulty in making their lease payments.

 

ITEM 8.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

 

The information required by this item is submitted as a separate section of this report beginning on page 48.

 

ITEM 9.CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

 

None.

 

ITEM 9A.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

 

 

 

Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018. In making this assessment, we used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013). Based on this assessment our management believes that, as of December 31, 2018, our internal control over financial reporting is effective under those criteria.

 

KPMG LLP, the independent registered public accounting firm that audited the Company’s financial statements included in this Annual Report, issued an audit report on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. KPMG’s audit report appears on page  49.

 

 

ITEM 9B.OTHER INFORMATION

 

None.

 

PART III

 

ITEM 10.DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

 

We have adopted a Standards of Ethical Conduct Policy (the “Code of Ethics”) that applies to all employees and directors including our Chief Executive Officer, President, and Chief Financial Officer. The Code of Ethics is filed in Exhibit 14.1 and is also available on our website at www.willislease.com.

 

The remainder of the information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement.

 

ITEM 11.EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement.

 

ITEM 12.SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

 

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement. The information in Item 5 of this report regarding our Equity Compensation Plans is incorporated herein by reference.

 

ITEM 13.CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

 

The information required by this item is incorporated by reference to our Proxy Statement.