Allegiant Travel Company ALGT reported first-quarter 2015 financial numbers with earnings per share of $3.74 surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.59.
Quarterly revenues increased 8.8% year over year to $329.2 million and were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. EBITDA margin in the reported quarter stood at 40.2% against 25.1%.
Operating Statistics
Airline traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, moved up 5.3% year over year to 2,191 million in the first quarter. Capacity or available seat miles increased 6.1% to 2,526 million, while load factor (percentage of seats filled with passengers) stood at 86.8% against 87.4% recorded in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) increased 2.5% year over year to 13.03 cents.
Operating Expenses & Income
In the first quarter, operating income jumped 88.7% to $108.1 million from the last-year quarter. Total operating expenses fell 9.8% year over year to $221.1 million owing to a drop in fuel and lease rental. Fuel price (economic) stood at $1.93 per gallon, down from $3.20 in the year-ago quarter. Consolidated unit cost or cost per available seat mile (CASM) fell 15% year over year to 8.8 cents.
Liquidity
At the end of the first quarter, Allegiant Travel had $438 million of cash and marketable securities against $416 million at the end of 2014. The company had long-term debt of $617.3 million against $292.9 million at the end of 2014.
Allegiant Travel currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Outlook
For 2015, the company expects CASM, exclusive of fuel, to be down to the range of 13% to 10% while capital expenditure will likely be at $260 million, including the purchase of three A320 planes.
For the second quarter of 2015, CASM, exclusive of fuel, is expected to remain flat or rise 2% over the last-year quarter.
Key Picks
Better-ranked stocks in the same industry include Southwest Airlines Co. LUV, JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. HA. All three carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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