China Asset Leasing Company Limited (“CALC (TJ)”), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (HKEx stock code: 01848) today announced its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2021 (the “Review Period”).

Financial and Operation highlights

• Steady growth in profit and assets - During the Review Period, CALC (TJ)'s total revenue reached RMB2.165 billion. Net profit increased by 18% year on year to RMB546 million. As at 31 December 2021, CALC (TJ)’s total assets reached 31.652 billion yuan, an increase of 3.5% year on year, and net assets reached RMB8.473 billion, an increase of 8.8% year on year. Despite challenges posed by Covid-19 variant, the Company has achieved steady development and continued to maintain a record of continuous profitability since its establishment.

• Strong capital strength and abundant liquidity - During the Review Period, the Company continued to increase its registered capital and paid-in capital, both of which reached US$1 billion to date, further enhancing the Company’s capital strength. At the same time, the Company's operating fundamentals and sound financial performance received recognitions from financial institutions, 10 of which started cooperative relationships for the first time. The diversified financing channels provide sufficient liquidity to meet the needs of the Company’s business development. In 2021, the Company's operating net cash flow reached RMB2.166 billion. As of end- 2021, the Company's monetary capital balance was RMB1.495 billion, and the available credit facilities had been significantly. During the Review Period, the Company has also successfully issued short and medium-term bonds more than RMB1 billion. As of end-2021, the Company has total credit line of unissued credit bonds and ABS reached RMB8.5 billion.

• Strong solvency — The Company continued to optimize its capital structure, and the gearing ratio decreased year by year, reaching 73.23% as at 31 December 2021. EBITDA interest covered in 3.91 times (2020: 3.23 times). During the Review Period, the average cost of interest-bearing debts of the Company was 3.87%, a decrease of 0.85 percentage points from last year.

• Delivery accelerated and fleet size continued to grow – During the Review Period, CALC (TJ) delivered a total of 19 aircraft (2020: 6 aircraft). As at December 31, 2021, the Company's fleet grew to 93* aircraft, including 91* owned aircraft and 2 managed aircraft. All of its aircraft are operated in China, and will benefit from the strong recovery of the domestic passenger traffic and huge market opportunities. The Company targets grow its owned fleet to more than 100 in 2022.

• Strong clientele and high asset quality - As at 31 December 2021, the Company's clientele consisted of 15 Chinese airlines with strong financial strength and abundant liquidity, of which the three major airlines and other state-owned airlines accounted for 90%. More than 60% of its owned aircraft were leased to triple-A-rated airlines. As of end- 2021, in terms of the number of aircraft, 93.4% of the Company's fleet were highly liquid narrow-body models with resilient valuations. They belong to the most popular model for domestic routes. The strong clientele and high-quality assets allowed the Company to inflict no rental revenue loss due to the Pandemic 2021, with 100% lease rate and utilization rate remained the highest in the industry. In addition, expiry of leases will not be concentrated in the next two years, implying insignificant aircraft remarking pressure. The Company has already secured 36 new aircraft for delivery to first-tier Chinese airlines in the next three years, in line with the post-epidemic aviation market recovery and demand for fleet growth, further consolidating its leading position in the market.

• Professional asset management capabilities - During the Review Period, the Company disposed of 8 aircraft (2020: 17 aircraft), all of which were sold to third-party leasing companies/airlines. The Company will continue to promote its diversified asset management model, liquidate assets through portfolio trading, satisfy needs of different investors through the establishment of joint venture companies, and optimize its own fleet portfolio, expand the management fleet, and strengthen its asset manager role. These efforts will help widen its sources of income, improve the capital utilization rate and return on equity, and reduce its gearing.

Mr. Wang Hongyang, Chairman of CALC (TJ), Executive Director and Vice President of Finance of China Everbright Limited, said: "In the past year, the Company has accomplished its business goals despite challenges of the industry and the pandemic, and maintained growth. The development trend highlighted resilience of the Company's operations and its growth momentum as a leading industry player. This resilience is deeply rooted with the Company's compliance with the requirements as state-owned enterprise directly controlled by the State Council, as a company listed in Hong Kong and under the financial supervision system in China, constituting forming an independent and distinctive "three-in-one" all-round corporate governance regime.”

CALC (TJ) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited, one of the few lessors in the world that are capable of providing a full range of services such as aircraft leasing, aircraft financing, fleet upgrades, asset management and portfolio trade, and has "aircraft asset manager" capability and eligibility. It was rated as a Class A enterprise by Tianjin Financial Bureau, and was named a "Tianjin Strategic Emerging Industry Leading Enterprise" and a "Tianjin Outstanding Financial Leasing Business Innovation Enterprise" in 2021.