New York, August 12, 2019 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") affirmed
the Baa3 senior unsecured ratings of AerCap Ireland Capital D.A.C.,
AerCap Global Aviation Trust, and International Lease Finance Corporation
and assigned a Baa3 backed issuer rating to parent holding company AerCap
Holdings N.V. (together "AerCap"; see the
complete list of affected ratings below). Moody's revised
AerCap's outlook to positive from stable. Moody's has also
withdrawn the outlooks on AerCap's existing instrument ratings for
its own business reasons.
Affirmations:
..Issuer: AerCap Global Aviation Trust
....Junior Subordinated Regular Bond/Debenture,
Affirmed Ba1 (hyb)
....Senior Unsecured Shelf, Affirmed
(P)Baa3
..Issuer: AerCap Ireland Capital D.A.C
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Affirmed Baa3
....Senior Unsecured Shelf, Affirmed
(P)Baa3
..Issuer: Delos Finance SARL
....Gtd. Senior Secured Term Loan,
Affirmed Baa2
..Issuer: Flying Fortress Holdings, LLC
....Gtd. Senior Secured Term Loans,
Affirmed Baa2
..Issuer: ILFC E-Capital Trust I
....Pref. Stock Preferred Stock,
Affirmed Ba1 (hyb)
..Issuer: ILFC E-Capital Trust II
....Pref. Stock Preferred Stock,
Affirmed Ba1 (hyb)
..Issuer: International Lease Finance Corporation
....Pref. Stock Preferred Stock,
Affirmed Ba2 (hyb)
....Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture,
Affirmed Baa3
Assignments:
..Issuer: AerCap Holdings N.V.
.... Backed Issuer Rating, Assigned
Baa3
Outlook Actions:
..Issuer: AerCap Global Aviation Trust
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Stable
..Issuer: AerCap Holdings N.V.
....Outlook, Assigned Positive
..Issuer: AerCap Ireland Capital D.A.C
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Stable
..Issuer: Delos Finance SARL
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Stable
..Issuer: Flying Fortress Holdings, LLC
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Stable
..Issuer: ILFC E-Capital Trust I
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Stable
..Issuer: ILFC E-Capital Trust II
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Stable
..Issuer: International Lease Finance Corporation
....Outlook, Changed To Positive From
Stable
RATINGS RATIONALE
Moody's affirmed AerCap's senior unsecured ratings based on strong operating
performance and effective liquidity and capital management over the past
year, which has solidified the company's leading franchise positioning
in aircraft leasing. In addition, AerCap has continued to
improve fleet composition through the sale of older aircraft and investment
in new technology models and demonstrated strong lease placement and residual
risk management. AerCap has strong liquidity management discipline,
consistently maintaining a cushion of available liquidity in anticipation
of its operating and financing needs. The ratings affirmation also
reflects the company's solid record of earnings, cash flow and capital
generation since acquiring larger competitor International Lease Finance
Corporation (ILFC) in 2014. Though competition within the aircraft
leasing sector has intensified, Moody's expects that AerCap will
continue to generate profitability that is stronger than most rated peers.
Moody's assignment of a Baa3 backed issuer rating to AerCap Holdings
N.V. reflects AerCap's consolidated credit profile
as well as Moody's expectation that, were senior unsecured
notes ever issued by the holding company, the notes would be supported
by subsidiary guarantees, resulting in the notes having creditor
protections that are indistinguishable from the Baa3 senior notes issued
by the subsidiaries. Absent such support, the holding company
senior notes would be rated one notch lower than the senior notes of the
rated subsidiaries, reflecting structural subordination.
Moody's revised AerCap's outlook to positive based on expectations
that the company will continue to make improvements in funding structure
by shifting debt funding toward a higher proportion of unsecured debt,
increasing unencumbered assets and enhancing the company's financial
flexibility and liquidity. The outlook also reflects Moody's
expectations that the company's debt to tangible net worth leverage,
while higher than certain peers, will be closely managed in accordance
with the company's target of 2.8x net debt/equity (including
AerCap adjustments). AerCap revised its leverage guidance earlier
this year, narrowing the target from a previous range of 2.7x
-- 3.0x. Moody's also expects that AerCap will continue
to generate strong and stable earnings and cash flows and effectively
manage fleet residual risks.
Constraints on AerCap's ratings include exposure to the cyclical airline
industry, significant speculative aircraft purchase commitments,
and debt to tangible net worth leverage (including Moody's adjustments)
that is higher than certain peers, and a fleet composition that
is more weighted toward wide-body aircraft than most peers,
which Moody's believes increases remarketing challenges compared
to fleets with a higher proportion of narrow-body aircraft.
Moody's could upgrade the ratings if AerCap: 1) increases and maintains
a ratio of tangible common equity to tangible managed assets above 20%;
2) further reduces fleet composition risks; 3) sustainably reduces
secured debt/gross tangible assets to less than 25%; and 4)
maintains strong liquidity and pre-tax profitability above the
peer median.
Moody's could downgrade AerCap's ratings if the company's operating prospects
unexpectedly weaken, liquidity weakens in relation to upcoming expenditures,
the company pursues a strategy that increases fleet residual risks,
or its leverage increases materially from the current level.
The principal methodology used in these ratings was Finance Companies
published in December 2018. Please see the Rating Methodologies
page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of
debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures
in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the
same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant
to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing
ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings
issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain
regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the
support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action
for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's
credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement
provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional
rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may
be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each
case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior
to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have
affected the rating. For further information please see the ratings
tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
For any affected securities or rated entities receiving direct credit
support from the primary entity(ies) of this credit rating action,
and whose ratings may change as a result of this credit rating action,
the associated regulatory disclosures will be those of the guarantor entity.
Exceptions to this approach exist for the following disclosures,
if applicable to jurisdiction: Ancillary Services, Disclosure
to rated entity, Disclosure from rated entity.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit
rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating
review.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has issued
the rating.
Please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for additional regulatory disclosures for each credit rating.
Mark L. Wasden
Senior Vice President
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Ana Arsov
MD - Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376
Client Service: 1 212 553 1653