Hangar8’s trading update shows 70% increase

Hangar8 has announced a
trading update for the 14 months ended 30 June 2011. The company’s final
results for the period, its first as a publicly quoted business, will be
released in October 2011.

Turnover for the 14 months to
30 June 2011 is expected to be approximately £18.4 million, an increase of 70%
on the year to April 2010. Gross margin improved to approximately 20% as a
consequence of better management of both the Company’s controllable costs and
its sales processes. The Company expects to report an operating profit for the
period, before the one-off costs associated with the IPO in November, in line
with management expectations. Cash balances at the period end were £2.1 million
and the Company has no debt.

As at 30 June 2011 Hangar8 has
a fleet of 32 managed aircraft, this is an increase of four since the company’s
announcement of 6 May 2011 and an increase of 68% compared to 19 aircraft at
the time of the IPO in November 2010. Five new aircraft types have been added
to the Company’s Air Operator Certificates (of which the Company now has 13).

In addition to the strong
organic growth shown above, new bases have been added in Europe and Africa, broadening the company’s geographic presence.
Management continues to examine and evaluate the viability of other operational
bases in strategic locations.

The company experienced and is
still experiencing, strong charter demand across its fleet. Operators that own
their assets, many of which are currently in negative equity, have been forced
to charge uneconomic charter rates in order to cover their costs. They have
been unable to sustain this and have been falling by the way side allowing
Hangar8 to increase its market share with a more competitive pricing structure.

Chief executive Dustin Dryden
commented “I am delighted with our progress in our first full year as a listed
company. We have invested across the Group, including strengthening and
professionalising the board and senior management team with the appointment of
Philip Brady as chief financial officer, as well as our wider operational
infrastructure and flight crews. Financially, we have performed well in a
difficult market and we now have a strong platform from which we can continue
to expand. This has all been achieved without abandoning the corporate culture
of fun and ‘can-do’ that brought us our original success.

I am confident there are still good organic growth opportunities in our
current markets but with our strong brand and existing platform will continue
to investigate expanding our geographical reach by opening bases in new
jurisdictions. We will also review acquisitions on a case by case basis and
pursue those which we feel are strategically important to us.

However, our focus remains on
customer service. We believe that quality – in the standard of aircraft, flight
crews and service are of more importance to charter customers than absolute
price. This is as true for private sector customers as it is for international
government customers (for whom Hangar8 arranged flights for the first time in
the year). As we gain critical mass our owners will benefit further from our
increased buying power across all areas of aviation expense. I look forward to
providing shareholders with a more detailed review of the year, together with
an update on the current financial year, at the time we report full final
results.”