Air Lease Corp (AL) 2013 Q3 法說會逐字稿

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  • Operator

  • Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the third-quarter 2013 Air Lease Corporation earnings conference call. My name is Derek and I will be your operator for today. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. We shall facilitate a question-and-answer session at the end of the conference. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes.

  • I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Ryan McKenna, head of Strategic Planning and Investor Relations. Please proceed.

  • Ryan McKenna - Assistant VP Strategic Planning & IR

  • Thank you very much. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Air Lease Corporation's third-quarter 2013 earnings call. This is Ryan McKenna, Assistant Vice President Strategic Planning and Investor Relations.

  • I'm joined this afternoon by Steve Hazy, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; John Plueger, our President and Chief Operating Officer; and Greg Willis, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

  • Earlier today, we published our third-quarter results for fiscal-year 2013. A copy of our earnings release is available on the investors section of our website at www.airleasecorp.com.

  • This conference call is being webcast and recorded today, Thursday, November 7, 2013, and the webcast will be available for replay on our website. At this time, all participants to this call are in listen-only mode. At the conclusion of today's conference call, instructions will be given for the question-and-answer session.

  • Before we begin, please note that certain statements in this conference call, including certain answers to your questions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, including without limitation statements regarding our future operations and performance, revenues, operating expenses, other income and expense, and stock-based compensation expense.

  • These statements and any projections as to the Company's future performance represent management's estimates of future results and speak only as of today, November 7, 2013. These estimates involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. Please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed description of the risk factors that may affect our results.

  • Air Lease Corporation assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information in light of new information or future events.

  • In addition, certain financial measures we will use during this call, such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income, are non-GAAP measures and have been adjusted to exclude charges relating to amortization of discounts and debt issuance costs and stock-based compensation expense, among other charges.

  • A description of our reasons for utilizing these non-GAAP measures, as well as our definition of them and their reconciliation to corresponding GAAP measures, can be found in the earnings release we issued today. This release can be found in both the investors and the press section of our website at www.airleasecorp.com.

  • Unauthorized recording of this conference call is not permitted. I would now like to turn the call over to our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Hazy.

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • Thanks, Ryan. Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today.

  • I am very pleased to report that Air Lease Corporation increased its diluted EPS to $0.46 per share in the third quarter of 2013, compared with $0.36 per share in the third quarter of 2012, representing an increase of 27.8%. For the first nine months of 2013, ALC increased its diluted EPS to $1.25 from $0.90 in the first nine months of 2012. This also represents a strong 38.9% increase.

  • Similarly, our topline revenues for the third quarter of 2013 were $216 million versus $175 million in 2012, which is a 23.4% increase. For the first nine months of 2013, ALC increased its revenues to $616 million from $466 million in 2012, representing a 32% increase.

  • Our team has consistently focused on the cash generation of our business, and cash from operating activities increased to $493 million for the first nine months of the year, an increase of 32% over the same period in 2012. At the end of Q3, we have over $12.7 billion of contracted cash flows associated with our current fleet and future deliveries.

  • ALC increased its pretax profit margin to an all-time high of 35%, and this was achieved through our core leasing operations and our focused efforts on reducing our cost of funds. We concluded Q3 with a highly attractive overall composite cost of funds of 3.46%, which is 28 basis points below at the end of Q2.

  • With these strong results in mind, Air Lease's Board of Directors decided it was appropriate to increase our quarterly cash dividend to $0.03 per share, representing a 20% increase over the previous quarterly cash dividends.

  • ALC's firing on all cylinders consistently, and I want to commend the excellent work of our entire team who have continued to execute our business plan and have delivered outstanding financial and operating results.

  • Globally, passenger traffic continues to grow ahead of our expectations, and we continue to see steady demand for aircraft. IATA, the International Air Transport Association, recently reported that passenger traffic for the first nine months of 2013 increased 5% versus the same period of 2012, with passenger load factors increasing to a very strong 80.1%.

  • The robust traffic growth is exceeding the growth rate in global GDP, and the substantial replacement cycle is further driving demand for new aircraft. We see an increase in product differentiation globally between legacy carriers who are focusing on premium traffic passengers for medium- and long-haul international flying versus the low-fare, low cost carriers targeting price-driven and price-sensitive domestic and regional passenger traffic.

  • ALC is well positioned to serve both of these diverse airline customer bases in the marketplace.

  • In late August, Air Lease received news from Standard & Poor's that our Company had received an investment-grade corporate credit rating of BBB- with a stable outlook. This is our second investment-grade rating, which follows our A- rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency earlier in the year.

  • S&P recognized a variety of aspects of ALC's business and credit metrics that create our investment-grade profile, and Greg Willis, our CFO, will talk more about this in his remarks. We are pleased with the outcome, but will continue to strive for outstanding results that will warrant upgrades in the future.

  • Now I would like to turn this over to John Plueger, our President and Chief Operating Officer, who will further discuss our performance and strategic positioning.

  • John Plueger - President, COO

  • Thanks, Steve.

  • Our aircraft lease placements continue to track with no significant change in portfolio overall lease rate factor. During the third quarter, demand remained strong from Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. We successfully delivered eight aircraft from our order book, increasing our fleet to 182 aircraft.

  • The summer is typically our slowest quarter of deliveries during the year, and these specific deliveries were skewed towards the end of the quarter. I just want to remind you that the full impact of the lease rentals in any quarter will not be realized until the following quarter when we receive three full months of rent.

  • Our average fleet age remained very low at 3.6 years, with a healthy average of 7 years remaining on our leases.

  • After a great deal of work with the Boeing Company on the development and final product definition of the 787-10, we reached final launch customer contract terms for the purchase of 33 Dreamliners, consisting of 30 787-10s and three additional 787-9s. And this was the order we originally announced at the Paris Air Show in July. We anticipate this model will become one of the most efficient aircraft in the worldwide twin-aisle fleet.

  • Our valuable order book will allow us to continue to increase our scale and global presence while building the leading aircraft leasing franchise. We believe that our business model of ordering aircraft directly from the manufacturers under the right price and terms results in leading profitability metrics.

  • On an overall portfolio basis, our lessees continue to perform well. We have no leases expiring this year and no more than 5% of the aircraft in our fleet are up for renewal in each year through 2017.

  • As we look forward to our remaining deliveries for the year, we now have clarity that the fourth quarter will have 11 new aircraft delivering from our order book. The majority of these aircraft are expected to deliver in the second half of the quarter, and this timing does impact quarterly revenue. Our business, however, is predicated on long-term aircraft leasing operations, and the timing of deliveries within a quarter has no impact or bearing on our long-term strategy or profitability.

  • One remarkable fact that I would like to comment on is that while we increased our debt this quarter, as well as the book value of our assets, total interest expense actually declined from last quarter as an absolute number. We're really pleased with our financing progress that our team has achieved, and on that note, let me now turn this over to Greg Willis, who will walk you through our financial profile that we believe further differentiates ALC.

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • Thanks, John.

  • S&P recognized a variety of aspects of ALC's business that create our investment-grade profile, starting with ALC's very low leverage and commitment to keep our debt-to-equity ratio below 2.5 to 1. We have a very young fleet with an average age of 3.6 years. These aircraft have long leases attached, currently with an average of seven years remaining across the fleet. The combination of young aircraft on long leases reduces residual value risk for the Company.

  • Further, we now have a widely diversified customer base of 79 airlines in 45 countries, and no single airline customer represents more than 10% of annual revenues. Our commitment to funding the Company, rather than individual aircraft assets, further distinguishes our investment-grade profile.

  • ALC's secured debt is only 18% of total assets, and therefore we do not receive a down notching of our unsecured debt issuances. Further, we have constructed a conservative debt maturity ladder and have generated strong interest coverage ratios.

  • Having achieved the investment-grade rating from S&P and Kroll, we believe that our access to capital will continue to broaden, and one of the first signs of this came from the banking community. Having successfully expanded our unsecured revolving bank facility in May to $1.7 billion, we received inbound requests during the fall from new banks wishing to enter the bank group and some existing lenders seeking to increase their commitments.

  • Therefore, we decided to reopen the facility and have now successfully added $300 million in new capacity. Our unsecured corporate bank revolver is now $2 billion in size, with a margin of 125 basis points over LIBOR. The bank group now includes 43 institutions, and we are very appreciative of the continued support from the banking community.

  • Owing to the substantial liquidity achieved in the bank market during the past six months, we developed some -- we deployed some of this liquidity and we were never in a position of needing to tap the public bond markets. We will continue to remain opportunistic as to when we issue paper.

  • Another development resulting from the S&P rating is that our three public bonds are now included in the Barclays investment-grade index. This will help the liquidity and market appeal of our senior notes, as we continue to build out a balanced debt maturity ladder. We believe that the liquidity provided in the corporate bond market provides a more efficient financing strategy for our Company than secured funding alternatives.

  • This concludes my review of the financing activities of the Company, and I will now turn it back to Ryan.

  • Ryan McKenna - Assistant VP Strategic Planning & IR

  • That concludes management's remarks. For the question-and-answer session, each participant will be allowed one question and one follow-up. I would like to hand the call back to the operator. Operator?

  • Operator

  • (Operator Instructions). John Godyn, Morgan Stanley.

  • John Godyn - Analyst

  • Thanks for taking my questions. We've heard from some other lessors that have already reported somewhat of a surge of demand for certain narrowbody aircraft. 737-800s have been highlighted, and definitely an uptick in A320 demand. I was hoping that the team could speak to what they are seeing on these aircraft types.

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • Well, I just wanted to go on the record to say that a few weeks ago, we delivered our last A320 new CO that we ordered back in 2010. These aircraft have all been placed on very profitable long-term 12-year leases. And so, in terms of A320s, we are completely tapped out.

  • All of our aircraft are flying. We have 100% utilization. We have no incremental A320s in the future that need to be placed.

  • Our next A320 will be the NEO, which begins in 2016. We still have a number of A321s, for which we have seen significant demand, and all of our A321s, which we'll deliver in 2015 and next year, are placed, again, on long-term leases.

  • We are seeing a significant increase in 737-800 activity. We are virtually leased out now through 2015. We have leased out a number of our 2016 positions, and we have a small number of early 2017 positions, and then, again, we begin to receive the first MAX 737s starting in January 2018.

  • So, we have seen improvements in the lease rate profiles, but from our vantage point, we have leased out virtually all of our single-aisle capacity for the next three years.

  • John Godyn - Analyst

  • That's very helpful. And Steve, we have seen a lot of headlines lately about the 777X, and Boeing continues to speak to formally launching the program this calendar year. I was hoping you could update us on your thoughts on the 777X, just within the context of what might be an imminent launch.

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • Well, the only thing I can tell you is that Boeing has been working very hard and diligently with a handful of leading international airlines, some of which are located in the Middle East, to get this program going.

  • Both Boeing and General Electric have worked very hard to optimize the airplane, based on customer feedback. We have been an active participant in this small customer focus group, and I think Boeing is working very hard to achieve a launch before the end of the year. And I think the Dubai Air Show will certainly be a turning point in that process.

  • John Godyn - Analyst

  • Great, very helpful. Thank you.

  • Operator

  • Jamie Baker, JPMorgan.

  • Jamie Baker - Analyst

  • Steve, I am wondering how comfortable you currently are with, I guess I would call it, the risk-adjusted yields today at the higher-quality end of the aircraft spectrum that you obviously target. Or is there a scenario where the returns might start to be competed away enough that you would consider a move down market?

  • Or let me ask it differently. Is there even a breaking point where you might consider a shift in aircraft strategy, and if so, how close might we be to that point?

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • We have seen a growing gap in the lease economics of sale-leasebacks versus our strategy, which is placing our new aircraft with airlines that requires a lift. And we have not seen, really, a degradation of lease rates as a percentage of acquisition costs on our new airplanes, whether single aisle or wide bodied.

  • We have very little competition, particularly on the wide-body side. However, we have seen the lease rate factors on sale-leasebacks become more and more competitive and less rewarding, and we have totally stayed away from that segment of the market.

  • Jamie Baker - Analyst

  • That's helpful. And a follow-up on your 777X comment from earlier. At least as the aircraft is currently envisioned, and I realize this is a somewhat sensitive topic, but does it put a stake in the heart of the 747-8 and/or the A380?

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • Well, the large version of the 777X, which is the 9X, is only a 7-foot stretch, so effectively it is a two rows' increase. So if you have two rows of economy, it is 20 seats. If it's one row of economy and one business class, it's 16 or 17 seats. And that is assuming a 10 abreast economy in the back, which most of the current 777 operators are going for the 10 abreast in the economy.

  • So in terms of seating capacity, it's only about 5% larger than the 777-300ER, but because of the new [lamiter] wing and the engine design, it hopes to achieve about a 10% to 12% improvement in operating cost. And it will eat into the A380 market. It will eat into the 747-8 market.

  • I think what is more concerning to Boeing is that the cargo market has been soft and demand for new 747-8 freighters is not as strong as they forecast. So it is yet to be seen whether the 747 will be wound down at some stage later on in the decade. I think that's a decision Boeing has not made yet.

  • Jamie Baker - Analyst

  • Yes, okay, appreciate your (multiple speakers)

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • (multiple speakers). The airplane won't come out until 2020. So we're really looking at seven years from now for the first delivery, if they maintain their current schedule.

  • Jamie Baker - Analyst

  • Right. Okay, Steve, I appreciate the perspective, as always. Thank you very much.

  • Operator

  • Arren Cyganovich, Evercore.

  • Arren Cyganovich - Analyst

  • I know you have talked about the placements coming in roughly within your expectations and not having much change there. I am wondering if you could talk about the NGs, and as you get further out into that book, if it is coming any more difficult to place them as they start to bump up against when the NEO will start hitting the market?

  • John Plueger - President, COO

  • It is John Plueger, thanks. The answer is no. Our NG placements are going well, and as Steve indicated, we are placing a variety of aircraft now in 2016 and beyond, in 2017.

  • I would say I would actually -- one of the questions, I think it was from John Godyn, reporting other lessors' strong demand on the NGs. We see that. So there is no indication of any, that we can see, any kind of softening in the 2016 or 2017 timeframe, and fairly quickly, we're probably going to have most of those positions leased out.

  • So, no evidence of softening in the lease rates at this point in time. Continued robust demand.

  • Arren Cyganovich - Analyst

  • Great, thanks. And then on the credit rating, I was wondering if maybe Greg could talk a little bit about if there is any conversations you had with the agencies about whether -- what aspects you could do to help get upgrades or improve your credit rating in the future.

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • I think a lot of it was continuing to book more and more quarters and getting more and more experience, but I think as we continue to focus an unsecured capital raises and driving our unsecured portion of our debt portfolio to 90%, I think that will help as well. But in all fairness, I think we're just going to continue to execute and we will layer on more and more ratings as we continue to go along, but we are happy with our current ratings from Kroll and S&P.

  • Arren Cyganovich - Analyst

  • Great. Thanks a lot.

  • Operator

  • Helane Becker, Cowen.

  • Helane Becker - Analyst

  • Thanks for the time. I just have a question on the stock-based compensation line. Kind of uncertain as to why it declined by 50%. I thought the stock performed well in the quarter.

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • Yes, I will take that one. If you look back in the footnotes, we describe the vesting of the options. And at the end of June of 2010, we completed the vesting of the 2010 options that were granted.

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • June 25.

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • Oh, sorry --

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • Yes, it's a three-year cycle. These are options that were granted. We only granted really one set of options in 2010, and at the end of the second quarter, we're done with that. So now we only have RSUs, and those are, obviously, less than the combined options in RSU.

  • So going forward, we will see a lower amount for this expense category. We are not issuing any more stock options at this time.

  • Helane Becker - Analyst

  • Perfect, okay, good. And I guess that was really my only question. I actually do have a question on depreciation. Have you thought about the right length of time over which to depreciate the aircraft? I noticed the airlines, in some cases, have been bringing that number down a little bit, and I was wondering what you were thinking about that.

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • No, we are quite happy with our depreciable life of 25 years across all of our product line. We just don't see that -- any evidence that should be shortening, either from an aircraft maintenance structural point of view, nor from the economic life point of view.

  • And just a quick reminder, our business model is one that is also predicated on keeping our fleet young not only by buying just new aircraft, but also by selling the aircraft when they are still fairly young, about a third of their useful life. So when an airplane gets to be around seven, eight, nine years of age, we look to sell it. We think that's a young aircraft, and it's one other way that we minimize any potential future residual value risk.

  • So the short answer is no. We are quite happy with where we're at.

  • Helane Becker - Analyst

  • Okay, thank you so much. That's very helpful to me.

  • Operator

  • Richa Talwar, Deutsche Bank.

  • Richa Talwar - Analyst

  • My first question is on the demand environment, geographically. I think, John, you commented that you are seeing demand strong in parts of Asia. I was hoping you could elaborate on what parts of Asia you are particularly seeing strength in.

  • And then to hone in on China, there's been some news recently that suggests the Chinese government is becoming more open to liberalizing the airline market, allowing some of these new entrant carriers to compete more aggressively with incumbents. Can you comment on that? I know you have created a strong footing with some of the large Chinese airlines, but if you are seeing any incremental opportunity from the smaller emerging airlines in the region. Thanks.

  • John Plueger - President, COO

  • Yes, thanks a lot, sure. Let me just -- in my specific remarks, what I said was that during the third quarter, our demand remained strong from Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia, so pretty much across the globe.

  • Specifically, though, with respect to China and Asia, we continue to see demand from southeast Asia and through China. I commented earlier in the year, we were watching, because we had the feeling that the demand from the big three Chinese airline groups -- the Air China, China Southern, China Eastern groups -- may have showed signs of abating somewhat, but actually that has not proven to be the case. In the last several months, we have several ongoing potential campaigns with the big three airlines in China.

  • As far as a little bit more liberalization, a bit more opening up for operating leases in China, more product, we think that's great. We have built a business model that we think competes in any venue, in any geography, and under any circumstance. We compete with our airplanes. We don't really compete with our balance sheet. We don't compete against deposit base funders.

  • So the great delivery positions that we have, the continued demand that we see across China, not just in the big three groups, but also on the secondary airlines, airlines such as Sichuan and a number of other carriers, some privately owned, some regional carriers, overall remains strong. And so, our delivery positions that we have really give us a great position that new entrants don't have into that marketplace, whether they be Chinese based or other new entrants globally.

  • Richa Talwar - Analyst

  • Okay, great, that's helpful color. And then, secondly, I wanted to get more information on your decision to mainly maintain a pretty plain-vanilla debt portfolio in a sense that I don't believe you have any derivatives or swaps. So can you speak to your strategy behind that, why you don't incorporate interest rate hedges and what risks that might present? I know in the last call, you talked about the rate escalators you have that protect you on the top line, but if you see any risks from rising interest rates as it relates to your debt. Thanks.

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • Yes, it is Greg. I just want to point out that we target 70/30 on the debt fixed/floating ratio. We feel that we are more effectively able to manage the interest rate risk we take in our portfolio by keeping the -- by targeting 70/30, and we do so by keeping the short end of the curve floating through the bank market through our unsecured revolver, and then going in the longer part of the curve, keeping that fixed to the bond market.

  • So that's how we effectively manage that ratio, and I think it's proven to be a very effective strategy over numerous years.

  • John Plueger - President, COO

  • Yes, we just don't see anything on the horizon that indicates any radical changes in interest rates in the foreseeable future. We are very happy with our strategy. And I think we have been pretty open with all of our stakeholders that this is not a management team that believes in derivatives.

  • Richa Talwar - Analyst

  • Okay, very clear, thank you.

  • Operator

  • Scott Valentin, FBR Capital Markets.

  • Scott Valentin - Analyst

  • Thanks for taking my question. Just real quick, on the dividend increase, I know you guys have said you're not going to become a dividend play in terms of high yield, but I was a little surprised at the magnitude of the increase. Can you maybe comment? And I assume there is no change in strategy there.

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • It is a modest increase. It is a 20% increase. We are going from $0.025 per share per quarter, or $0.10 per year, to $0.03 per quarter, $0.12 a year. The impact on the Company, assuming about 100 million shares outstanding, is only $2 million, but we do want to demonstrate to our institutional holders, the retail markets, and the broad spectrum of capital investors in our Company that we're optimistic. We feel very strong about our ongoing performance, and also about our future performance.

  • And the Board felt, based on our inputs and those we received from some of our large shareholders, that this was a prudent step to take, and it continues to demonstrate the Company's consistent, strong, long-term performance.

  • John Plueger - President, COO

  • Let me just add that we believe in the mantra that we are a growth company, and frankly, we believe that by a small dividend, and it's still very, very small, we don't compromise that one bit.

  • Instead, we have a future belief in the growth of our Company, and we are big believers in shareholder value and delivering that value. This is a small component of that, but in no way, shape, or form are we deviating away from being a growth company. That's what we are.

  • Scott Valentin - Analyst

  • Okay, fair enough. I appreciate that. And then just a follow-up, maybe, on the depreciation question. I think in the past, you mentioned that in 2014 you might look to sell some aircraft. I am just wondering if any of those conversations have started or are there aircraft that you plan to sell in 2014 and maybe (multiple speakers)

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • (multiple speakers). I think it's fair to say that you can look to us for 2014 and beyond to start selling some aircraft. We have a business model. That business model specifically and clearly says that we only enjoy an aircraft about the first third of its life. We are now 3.5 years of age. We continue to grow, but most of the first few years, obviously, have been focused strictly on growth.

  • But yes, you can start to see -- to expect from us some sales activity in 2014 and 2015 and beyond as a normal part of our business model.

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • I think our stated strategy, even if you go back to the IPO prospectus, was that we would reach about 200 aircraft in size. We're really on the threshold of reaching that objective, and once we have gone past 200 aircraft in our portfolio, then we begin to dispose of some of our older aircraft on a profitable basis and reinvest that cash in the acquisition of new aircraft.

  • So that point is now upon us, and as John indicated, in 2014 and 2015, you will see very specific and well thought out used aircraft sales.

  • Scott Valentin - Analyst

  • Okay, thanks. And the key part, I think, what you said was profitable. So that sounds like you guys feel pretty comfortable about values going forward?

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • Yes, ALC is not a charitable organization. We are a profit-motivated organization. (laughter).

  • Scott Valentin - Analyst

  • Thanks very much.

  • Operator

  • Moshe Orenbuch, Credit Suisse.

  • Moshe Orenbuch - Analyst

  • I guess the first question following up on that last one, given that you have enhanced your funding base and have better liquidity, and during 2014 and 2015 will have additional liquidity, I guess, from the sale of some aircraft, is that contemplated in the forward order book or are there opportunities to increase in some way and put that to work incrementally?

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • We have, in fact, accelerated some delivery positions and we continuously update our backlog. We certainly underordered aircraft in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and we are continuously modifying our backlog, pushing deliveries forward to accommodate the requirements of our customers.

  • So to the extent that our used aircraft sales are more vigorous and successful than we anticipate, we will look at opportunities on either accelerating new aircraft or situations where we can acquire new aircraft and deploy it profitably on a long-term lease.

  • But we are also very conscious of our debt-to-equity ratio, and even with a more robust growth plan ahead, we want to be very disciplined and maintain a debt-to-equity ratio that is below 2.5 to 1.

  • Moshe Orenbuch - Analyst

  • Got it. On a slightly different topic, you had mentioned that you aren't going to be doing additional stock options. Is there going to be more SG&A in terms of cash compensation or is that just -- was one time and the level of cash compensation is going to be stable?

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • Because of the accounting rules and the expensing of options, we felt that it was a nonoptimal way of compensation, and I think our Board comp committee -- and based on more recent trends in the public sector, restricted stock units seem to be a more effective way of dealing with this issue. And we have an ongoing program that you can read about in our proxy statement, and we're discontinuing that program.

  • I don't anticipate any large increases in equity-based compensation. They will be measured, and the Board will deal with that issue at our next meeting in February.

  • Moshe Orenbuch - Analyst

  • Thank you very much.

  • Operator

  • Jason Arnold, RBC Capital Markets.

  • Jason Arnold - Analyst

  • Great results this quarter. Just a question, I guess, on the debt side. Spreads on your debt have come in nicely following the additional rating. Any additional thoughts on funding mix, extending term, or anything like that in terms of new issuances here for going forward or any thoughts around that?

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • It is Greg. I'd like to remind you that we have $1.5 billion in liquidity and we use that to make sure that we are never forced to go to market.

  • Our spreads have come in significantly, but we think that there is still a lot of room to go, if you look at the credit metrics. The way we manage our fixed/floating portfolio is -- or fixed/floating mix, excuse me, is by keeping the bank market floating and the bond market fixed over the long term. So I think that -- if you have anything else, I am happy to go into more details, but --

  • Jason Arnold - Analyst

  • Sure, yes, I was just curious if the spread coming in has given you any thoughts as to extending term slightly, if opportunities arise, or just take advantage of (multiple speakers)

  • Greg Willis - SVP, CFO

  • (multiple speakers). We have a lot of runway on our maturity profile. We have no sizable maturities until 2017. If we do more capital markets issuances, they will probably be beyond 2017.

  • John Plueger - President, COO

  • I would just comment -- this is John -- I would just add that we have actually kind of -- what you are specifically asking about, we have actually kind of continuously done that since the early years of the Company.

  • As we add banking strength and as we add capital markets strength, we have moved out maturities on our original Credit Suisse warehouse facility; on our current bank unsecured facility, which has now been upsized twice this year, the second time being after our investment-grade rating. So it's just a very normal, natural process for us as part of our total capital strategy.

  • Steve Hazy - Founder, Chairman, CEO

  • I do want to just remind everyone on the call that the last public bond that we did back in February was a seven-year maturity with 2020 is when we will pay it back. We have done a private placement in the last 60 days. A significant part of that will mature in 2019.

  • We extended our $2 billion revolver, that Greg described, from a three-year facility to a four-year facility, and at the same time reduced the margin on that. So we are consciously moving debt maturities out and doing it in sort of a well-planned, intelligent fashion, rather than one giant step. So you'll see a progressive set of measures that management is taking to better match the debt maturities to our lease cash flow maturities.

  • John Plueger - President, COO

  • Yes, just a reminder, Jason, I know you know this, but others might not, the overall goal for the Company is to, on an overall portfolio basis, have the average tenor of our debt match about the average tenor of our lease maturities, which is about seven years.

  • Jason Arnold - Analyst

  • Terrific, excellent. Thanks for the color, guys.

  • Operator

  • At this time, I'm showing no further questions in queue. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Ryan McKenna for any closing remarks.

  • Ryan McKenna - Assistant VP Strategic Planning & IR

  • That concludes management's remarks for today's call. Thank you very much for your participation, and we will speak to you next quarter.

  • Operator

  • Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference. We thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.