Spirit Airlines Announces Second Quarter 2011 Earnings

MIRAMAR, Fla., Jul 28, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) — Spirit Airlines, Inc. SAVE -1.02% today reported second quarter 2011 financial results. During the quarter, Spirit completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) and began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Stock Market under the ticker symbol SAVE. Pro forma results assume the IPO and related recapitalization, occurred as of January 1, 2010 and are included to provide investors with meaningful year-over-year comparisons. Pro forma results also exclude unrealized gains and losses and special items.

— Pro forma net income for the second quarter was $26.8 million, or $0.37 per diluted share. GAAP net income was $16.9 million, or $0.41 per diluted share. — Operating income for the second quarter 2011 was $40.7 million, resulting in a 14.8% operating margin, excluding $3.5 million of unrealized fuel hedge losses and $2.3 million of special items. GAAP second quarter 2011 operating income was $34.9 million, resulting in a 12.7% operating margin. — EBITDAR, excluding unrealized gains and losses and special items, for the second quarter 2011 was $71.5 million, resulting in an EBITDAR margin of 25.9%. — Spirit ended the quarter with $346.9 million in total cash, of which $248.5 million was unrestricted

“I am pleased with the results the Spirit team delivered during the second quarter 2011. It is an exciting time for Spirit now that it is a public company and we are happy to report these very positive results,” said Ben Baldanza, Spirit’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our strategy empowers customers to save by choosing the extra services that are of value to them. Passenger growth in excess of our capacity growth illustrates a growing preference for our model by consumers.”

Revenue Performance

For the second quarter 2011, Spirit’s total operating revenue was $275.9 million, an increase of $98.5 million, or 55.6%, from the second quarter 2010. Total revenue per available seat mile (“RASM”) increased to 11.37 cents, up 22.1% as compared to the second quarter last year driven primarily by a traffic increase of 37.1% on a capacity increase of 27.3%, which resulted in a load factor increase of 6.1 points to 85.9%. Second quarter 2010 revenue was adversely affected by the June 2010 pilot strike.

During the second quarter 2011, Spirit continued to stimulate traffic by keeping fares low and offering customers the freedom to pay for only the extra services and products they value. Total revenue per passenger flight segment (“PFS”) increased to $125.39, a 13.9% increase as compared to the second quarter 2010, driven primarily by average non-ticket revenue per PFS increasing to $43.39, up 37.1% from the same period last year.

Spirit ended the quarter with 35 aircraft in service. Spirit has 33 Airbus aircraft on order with deliveries scheduled to begin November 2011 and continuing through 2015.

Cost Performance

Total operating expenses in the second quarter 2011 were $240.9 million, up 37.2% over the same period last year primarily due to an increase in fuel cost per gallon of over 40% and increased flight volume. Second quarter operating cost per available seat mile, excluding special items and fuel (“CASM ex-fuel”), was 5.41 cents, a 10.3% decrease as compared to the second quarter 2010. Spirit remains committed to its ultra low cost strategy, which through cost control allows it to offer low base fares in its markets while sustaining industry leading margins.

Balance Sheet

Spirit ended the quarter with $346.9 million in total cash, including net proceeds of $150 million to the Company from the IPO. Total unrestricted cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter was $248.5 million.

Cash generated by operating activities during the second quarter 2011 was $43.8 million. Capital expenditures during the second quarter 2011 were $5.8 million. In addition, the Company paid pre-delivery deposits of $7.4 million and had purchase deposit refunds of $1.0 million.

As a result of the IPO and related recapitalization, at the end of the quarter, Spirit had no debt on its balance sheet.