Copa Holdings, which manages the Panamanian airline Copa Airlines and the Colombian airlines Copa Airlines Colombia and Wingo, presented the report of its operating and financial results corresponding to the first quarter of the year.
The comparisons were established with respect to the first quarter of 2019, which the company considered more relevant than the same periods of 2020 and 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. All figures are expressed in U.S. dollars.
Operating Results
- Copa Holdings’ capacity during the quarter, measured in available seats per mile, was 87.6% compared to the capacity offered in the first quarter of 2019.
- It reported an 11.7% decrease in the number of passengers carried compared to the last first quarter prior to the pandemic. However, the figures exceeded those of 2021 and evidenced the consolidation of the recovery. Between January and March 2022, Copa Holdings carried 3.47 million passengers.
- Copa Airlines’ fleet as of March 31th consisted of 93 operational aircraft: 68 Boeing 737-800s, 16 Boeing 737 MAX 9s (the company took delivery of two new units during the first quarter) and 9 Boeing 737-700s.
- Copa Airlines operated 91.3% of its flights on time, with a flight completion factor of 99.3%.
- The load factor was 81.5%, 1.8 percentage points lower than the same period of 2019 and almost two percentage points lower than the last quarter of 2021.
- Two new destinations were announced. Starting in June, the company will fly from its Panama-Tocumen hub to Santa Marta (SMR), in Colombia, and to Barcelona (BLA), in Venezuela.
Financial Results
- Total revenues between January and March 2022 reached 571.6 million. Thus, the company reached 85% of the total revenues it had during the same period in 2019.
- Revenues from commercial passenger flight operations reached 83.4% of the level of the first quarter of 2019. For its part, and thanks to the context of the booming market for the transportation of goods by air, revenues from cargo operations were 40.6% higher.
- The company earned revenues of 10.2 cents per seat and mile flown, 3% lower than in the first quarter of 2019. Operating cost per seat per mile flown, excluding fuel costs, decreased 1.6%, up to 6 cents.
- The company reported a net income of 19.8 million or 0.47 dollars per share. In the first quarter of 2019, profit had been 89.4 million or 2.11 dollars per share. Special items for the quarter amounted to 9.7 million, mainly due to unrealized mark-to-market losses related to the company’s convertible notes, as well as changes in the value of financial investments.
- Operating income was 44.8 million, with an operating margin of 7.8%. In the first quarter of 2019, operating income had been 112.9 million.
- As reported, the company closed the quarter with approximately 1.2 billion in cash, representing 65% of total revenues earned during the last year.
- Total debt reached 1.6 billion, including aircraft lease liabilities.
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