Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), an aircraft leasing and maintenance company, said on Tuesday its net income last year was 67 per cent lower than 2015, the year it sold the engineering services provider StandardAero, as it sought to focus on its leasing business. Net profit was US$199 million, down from $610.4m a year earlier, the company said.
DAE, whose majority shareholder is the sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai, said revenue rose by 22 per cent last year to $417.8m. It also increased its aircraft fleet last year.
Khalifa Al Daboos, DAE’s managing director, said there was a “sizeable opportunity” to expand within the UAE and Middle East’s aerospace sector. “DAE’s growth ambitions will focus on expanding its presence broadly in the sector and in the region,” he said.
The company spent more than $1 billion last year on acquiring aircraft, bringing the number owned, committed and managed by DAE to 112 aircraft, which had a net value of $5.1bn by the end of last year.
“Our accomplishments in 2016 underscore our single-minded focus on building DAE as a trusted provider of aircraft leasing and engineering solutions to our clients on a global basis,” said Firoz Tarapore, DAE’s chief executive.
Last month, the company said it completed the purchase of a portfolio of ATR 72-600 aircraft from GE Capital Aviation Services, bringing DAE’s fleet to 57 and making the company one of the world’s largest lessors of the particular aircraft. This type of plane is used by airlines including Lion Group carriers in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand as well as others such as Air France.
lgraves@thenational.ae
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