Business
American Airlines Group Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2019 Profit
FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) today reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 financial
About this update from American Airlines Group, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) today reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2019 financial results, including these highlights:\n Fourth-quarter 2019 earnings were $0.95 per diluted share. Excluding net special items1, earnings were $1.15 per diluted share, up 19% year over year.Full-year 2019 earnings were $3.79 per diluted share. Excluding net special items2, earnings were $4.90 per diluted share, up 8% year over year. Accrued $213 million for the company’s profit-sharing program in 2019, including $74 million in the fourth quarter.Returned $1.3 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases in 2019. “During the fourth quarter, we made important progress to address the issues that impacted our business in 2019, and, thanks to our incredible team, we ended the year with our strongest operational quarter on record,” said American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker. “While our results for the quarter reflect this progress, we know there is more work to be done. Looking to 2020, we are focused on three key areas. First, we will continue to deliver operational excellence and build on our strong fourth-quarter results. Our team has done a tremendous job, and we will keep driving improvement in key operational metrics in the year ahead. Second, we will deliver those results while growing where we have a competitive advantage in our most profitable hubs. And third, these initiatives combined with our capital plan will enable us to drive significant free cash flow in 2020 and beyond.” Fourth-Quarter Revenue and Expenses Pre-tax earnings were $571 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Pre-tax earnings excluding net special items for the fourth quarter of 2019 were $679 million, a $90 million increase from the fourth quarter of 2018, or 15.1% year-over-year increase from the same period last year. GAAP Non-GAAP1 GAAP Non-GAAP2 4Q19 4Q18 4Q19 4Q18 FY19 FY18 FY19 FY18 Operating income ($ mil) 729 571 876 749 3,065 2,656 3,706 3,449 Pre-tax income ($ mil) 571 394 679 589 2,256 1,884 2,900 2,790 Pre-tax margin 5.0% 3.6% 6.0% 5.4% 4.9% 4.2% 6.3% 6.3% Net income ($ mil) 414 325 502 448 1,686 1,412 2,179 2,117 Earnings per diluted share$0.95 $0.70 $1.15 $0.97 $3.79 $3.03 $4.90 $4.55 Continued strength in passenger demand and a record passenger load f...