Allegiant Travel Company (Allegiant Air) today reported the following financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2021, as well as comparisons to prior years:

“We finished the year with adjusted earnings per share⁽¹⁾ of $2.04, one of the only domestic carriers to record a full-year adjusted profit,” stated Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company. “This is a remarkable feat and could not have been accomplished without the support of our team members. 2021 was a challenging year, yet we remained nimble and continued to learn and adapt. Despite impacts from multiple variants throughout the year, we grew scheduled capacity more than eight percent when compared to 2019. Load factors sequentially improved throughout the year with fourth quarter loads of 77.1 percent, a more than twenty-point increase from the first quarter. We grew fourth quarter revenue by 7.8 percent when compared with 2019, finishing the year with total operating revenue of $1.7 billion, just seven percent below 2019.

“As we exited 2021, the operation was challenged by impacts from the Omicron variant. We saw unprecedented crew shortages due to COVID, resulting in cancelled flights during the peak holiday travel season and persisting throughout January. Case counts have started to recede, thus the worst should be behind us. I expect the operation to return to a more normalized state in time for peak March travel. Given the cancellations from Covid, irregular operations expenses were $23 million during the fourth quarter. As noted last quarter, it is imperative and good business practice to reimburse our customers for the inconvenience we have caused, in addition to refunding the ticket price.

“Despite the Omicron variant, forward bookings are strong for upcoming peak leisure travel periods. Spring break bookings have been particularly strong. Over the past several months, the booking curve has normalized to its pre-COVID state, and although early, we are beginning to see positive demand trends into early summer. In addition, third-party revenues have outperformed 2019 due primarily to strength with our cobrand credit card program. We acquired more than 100 thousand new cardholders in 2021, a program record. This trend continues in 2022, with January now the program’s best month for new cardholder acquisitions.

“The future of Allegiant is bright. We expect to end 2022 with 127 aircraft. All incoming aircraft will have 186 seats, increasing our seats per departure. The recently announced Boeing transaction will increase incremental route opportunities to 1,400, which represents more than ten years of growth. Additionally, progress on Sunseeker is on track to open in early 2023. This project will diversify our ecosystem of travel offerings available to our customers.

“Once again our team members have shown their mettle in the past 90 days.  They have been on the front lines in one of the worst periods I have seen with regard to the uncertainty and fear we are all experiencing from Covid.  I want to personally thank each and every one of them.”

Fourth Quarter 2021 Results

• GAAP income before income taxes of $15.1 million
  • Adjusted income before income taxes^{(1) (2) (3)}of $27.5 million, yielding a pre-tax margin of 5.5 percent
• Consolidated EBITDA^{(2) (3)} of $80.0 million, yielding an EBITDA margin of 16.1 percent
  • Adjusted EBITDA^{(1) (2) (3)} of $92.4 million, yielding an adjusted EBITDA margin of 18.6 percent
• Total operating revenue was $496.9 million, up 7.8 percent when compared with the fourth quarter of 2019
  • Scheduled capacity up 14.5 percent year over two-year
  • Continued sequential improvement in load factor, which came in at 77.1 percent
  • Peak holiday travel load factor mirrored levels observed in 2019 for the same time period
• Total average fare – third party products of $6.90, up 47.4 percent year over two-year driven primarily by cobrand strength
• Adjusted operating CASM, excluding fuel ⁽¹⁾ of 7.24 cents, up 7.4 percent when compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, driven primarily by costs related to increased irregular operations
• Expanded the network by adding 13 new routes with one new city, Canton, Ohio, bringing total routes served to 608 and 133 cities
  • List of incremental, domestic-route opportunities in excess of 1,400
    • Route profile similar to current network structure – roughly 80 percent of opportunities currently have no direct, non-stop competition
• Announced plans for a fully-integrated Commercial Alliance Agreement with Viva Aerobus to expand options for nonstop leisure air travel between the United States and Mexico
  • First-of-its-kind alliance between two ultra low-cost carriers
• Partnered with Boeing to purchase 50 737 MAX aircraft, powered by CFM LEAP 1-B engines, with deliveries beginning mid-2023

Full-Year 2021 Results

• GAAP income before income taxes of $196.6 million
  • Adjusted income before income taxes^{(1) (2) (3)}of $45.7 million, yielding a pre-tax margin of 2.7 percent
  • One of the only domestic carriers to achieve full-year profitability on an adjusted basis
• Consolidated EBITDA of $444.1 million, yielding an EBITDA margin of 26.0 percent
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $293.2 million, yielding an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.2 percent
• Total system capacity increased 8.1 percent when compared with 2019
• Total operating revenue was $1.7 billion, 7.2 percent below 2019
  • Total average fare of $123.24, up 4.2 percent from 2019
  • Total ancillary average fare of $64.73, up 14.2 percent from 2019 driven by air ancillary bundles, website redesign, and increased cobrand activity
• Available seat miles per fuel gallon of 85.4, a 3.7 percent improvement from 2019
• Record-setting year for the cobrand program with more than 100 thousand new cardholders acquired
• Ended 2021 with nearly 800 thousand active Allways Rewards members

(1) Adjusted numbers exclude COVID related special charges, the net benefit from the payroll support programs, when applicable, and profit sharing bonus accruals

(2) Denotes a non-GAAP financial measure

(3) Refer to the Non-GAAP Presentation section within this document for further information

Balance Sheet, Cash and Liquidity

• Total cash and investments at December 31, 2021 were $1.2 billion
  • Received $116 million in federal tax refunds in October related to 2020 net operating losses
  • Received $204 million in payroll support program funds during 2021
• $488.2 million in total operating cash inflow for 2021, including payroll support program funds received as well as federal tax refunds related to net operating losses
• Total debt at December 31, 2021 was $1.7 billion
  • Net debt at December 31, 2021 was $559.8 million, a 42.5 percent decrease from year-end 2020
• Debt principal payments of $62 million during the quarter
• Full year Interest expense of $68 million, down 10.9 percent year over two-year
• Air traffic liability at December 31, 2021 was $307 million
  • Balance related to future scheduled flights is $240 million
  • Balance related to travel vouchers issued for future use is $67 million

Airline Capital Expenditures

• Fourth quarter spend was $56 million, which included $29 million for the acquisition of two aircraft as well as induction costs and $27 million in other airline capital expenditures
  • Fourth quarter deferred heavy maintenance spend was $12 million
• Full year 2021 capital expenditures were $205 million, which included $136 million for the acquisition of seven aircraft and one engine as well as induction costs and $69 million in other airline capital expenditures
  • Full year deferred heavy maintenance spend was $61 million

Sunseeker Resort

• Anticipated opening remains unchanged at first quarter 2023
• Total project spend as of December 31, 2021 was $211 million with $23 million funded by debt and the remaining $188 million funded by Allegiant
  • Fourth quarter capital expenditures related to the project were $38 million
  • 2021 capital expenditures were $51 million

Aircraft Fleet Plan by End of Period

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• Source: https://worldairlinenews.com/2022/02/02/allegiant-turns-to-the-black-produces-a-profit-in-the-fourth-quarter-and-2021/