Copa Holdings Reports Net Income of US$86.6 Million for the Fourth Quarter of 2012 and US$326.5 Million for Full Year 2012

PANAMA CITY, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE: CPA), today announced financial results for the fourth quarter of 2012 (4Q12) and full year 2012. The terms “Copa Holdings” or “the Company” refers to the consolidated entity. The following financial information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). See the accompanying reconciliation of non-IFRS financial information to IFRS financial information included in financial tables section of this earnings release. Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons with prior periods refer to the fourth quarter of 2011 (4Q11).

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Copa Holdings reported net income of US$86.6 million for 4Q12 or earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.95, as compared to net income of US$104.4 million or EPS of US$2.36 in 4Q11. Excluding special items, Copa Holdings reported an adjusted net income of US$89.3 million or adjusted EPS of $2.01, compared to adjusted net income of US$85.3 million or adjusted EPS of $1.93 in 4Q11.

Net income for full year 2012 reached US$326.5 million or EPS of US$7.35, compared to US$310.4 million or EPS of US$6.98 for full year 2011. Excluding special items, however, Copa Holdings would have reported an adjusted net income of US$336.1 million or EPS of US$7.57, compared to adjusted net income of US$314.1 or adjusted EPS of $7.06 for full year 2011.

Operating income for 4Q12 came in at US$104.3 million, representing a 6.5% decline from operating income of US$111.5 million in 4Q11, mainly as a result of a 3.7% drop in unit operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM) and a 6.3% increase in the all-in price of jet fuel. As a result, operating margin for 4Q12 came in at 17.4%, or 4.5 percentage points below 4Q11.

The Company reported operating income of US$402.5 million for full year 2012, representing an increase of 4.6% over operating income of US$385.0 million in 2011. Operating margin for full year 2012 came in at 17.9%, as compared to an operating margin of 21.0% in 2011.

Total revenues for 4Q12 increased 17.7% to US$599.8 million. Yield per passenger mile decreased 4.1% to 17.1 cents and RASM came in at 13.5 cents, or 3.7% below 4Q11. However, on a quarter over quarter basis, both yields and RASM remained relatively flat over our third quarter high season, declining only 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively.

For 4Q12 consolidated passenger traffic grew 23.7%, led by international traffic growth which expanded a robust 26.0%. At the same time, consolidated capacity grew 22.3%, led by a 24.4% increase in international capacity. As a result, consolidated load factor for the quarter increased 0.8 percentage points to 75.7%. For full year 2012, consolidated load factor came in at 75.4%, down 0.9 percentage points from 2011, on 24.1% capacity growth.

Operating cost per available seat mile (CASM) increased 1.8%, from 11.0 cents in 4Q11 to 11.1 cents in 4Q12 as a result of an increase in the all-in price of jet fuel. However, CASM excluding fuel cost decreased 1.3% from 6.9 cents in 4Q11 to 6.8 cents in 4Q12, as a result of lower labor, maintenance and distribution unit costs, which were partly offset mainly by higher passenger servicing costs and other administrative expenses.

Cash, short term and long term investments ended 2012 at US$720.5 million, representing 32% of the last twelve months’ revenues.
During the fourth quarter, Copa Airlines took delivery of two Boeing 737-800s and returned one leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft. As a result, Copa Holdings ended the year with a consolidated fleet of 83 aircraft, composed of 18 Boeing 737-700s, 39 Boeing 737-800s and 26 Embraer-190s.

During the fourth quarter, Copa Holdings and Boeing agreed to reschedule four future B737-800 aircraft deliveries (2 firm and 2 options). As a result, the company now has eight firm deliveries of Boeing 737-800 aircraft and four lease expirations of B737-700 aircraft for 2014.

For 2012, Copa Holdings reported on-time performance of 85.5% and a flight-completion factor of 99.6%, maintaining its position among the best in the industry.

Subsequent Events
In January 2013, Copa Holdings completed the sale-leaseback of eight Boeing 737-800 aircraft, four of which involve 2013 deliveries and four involving 2014 deliveries. The sale-leaseback transactions for the 2013 deliveries were closed with MC Aviation Partners, the aircraft leasing arm of Mitsubishi Corporation, and the sale-leaseback transactions for the 2014 deliveries were closed with SMBC Aviation Capital.

Effective March 15, 2013, and after 17 years of valuable service, Copa Holdings’ CFO, Mr. Victor Vial, will be resigning. Mr. Vial will continue to be involved with the company as an advisor to the Board of Directors. The company is currently undergoing a selection process to appoint a new CFO.