Willis Lease Agrees to Buy 12 Aircraft, 13 Engines
Willis Lease Finance (WLFC) struck a definitive agreement to add 12 aircraft and 13 engines to its lease portfolio, a deal announced weeks after quarterly income from operations rebounded 41.4%.
Willis Lease Finance (WLFC) entered a definitive agreement to acquire 12 aircraft and 13 engines, expanding the lease-portfolio company's fleet in a deal that carried no accompanying financial figures.
The purchase lands as Willis Lease works through a portfolio that had been shrinking on the balance sheet even as profitability improved. Lease portfolio book value fell to $2,857.0 million at the end of the first quarter of 2026 from $2,988.9 million three months earlier, with the engine count dropping to 342 from 363 while the aircraft count held at 20. The new acquisition points toward rebuilding that base after a quarter of net disposals.
First-quarter 2026 revenue reached $194.3 million, up 23.2% from a year earlier, a slower pace than the 26.7% YoY growth logged in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the 28.3% growth for full-year 2025. Lease rent revenue, the company's core line, rose 14.2% YoY to $77.4 million, also decelerating from 16.2% growth in the fourth quarter and 22.4% for the full year.
Profitability moved the other direction. Income from operations rose 41.4% YoY to $33.8 million in the first quarter, a sharp recovery after fourth-quarter income from operations had fallen 52.0% YoY to $14.1 million. Gain on sale of leased equipment drove much of the swing, rebounding to $18.0 million in the first quarter, up 304.8% YoY, on the sale of 14 engines compared with seven engines and one airframe in the year-earlier period. Adjusted EBITDA rose 19.9% YoY to $123.8 million, in line with the 16.6% growth posted for full-year 2025.
Portfolio utilization climbed to 85.8% at quarter-end from 79.9% a year earlier, extending a multiyear improvement from the 84.9% average utilization the company reported for full-year 2025 versus 82.9% in 2024.
The quarter also carried new costs. Willis Lease recorded a $7.0 million loss on debt extinguishment, versus none in the year-earlier quarter, following a $3.1 million full-year 2025 charge of the same kind that had no 2024 counterpart. Stock compensation expense nearly doubled YoY to $13.8 million from $6.9 million, continuing a trend that took full-year 2025 stock comp to $44.6 million from $29.2 million in 2024, driven in part by accelerated vesting tied to a General Counsel resignation.
Spending on the company's sustainable aviation fuels project fell to $0.03 million in the first quarter from $11.8 million a year earlier, after full-year 2025 spend of $13.8 million versus $1.9 million in 2024, as the company will cease further investment and pursue strategic alternatives including a potential sale. A $43.0 million gain on the sale of the Bridgend Asset Management Limited business that boosted full-year 2025 results had no 2024 counterpart and did not recur in the first quarter.
Between the fourth-quarter and first-quarter releases, Willis Lease amended its revolving credit facility on March 30, 2026, raising total commitments to $1.75 billion from $1.0 billion and extending the maturity to April 2031. The expanded facility gives the company additional capacity as it moves to close the aircraft and engine acquisition disclosed in its July 14 release.