Copa Holdings Reports Net Income of US$92.8 Million for the Fourth Quarter of 2010 and US$212.1 Million for Full Year 2010

PANAMA CITY, Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE: CPA), parent company of Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10) and full year 2010. The terms “Copa Holdings” or “the Company” refers to the consolidated entity, whose operating subsidiaries are Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia. The following financial and operating information, unless otherwise indicated, is presented in accordance with US GAAP.  See the accompanying reconciliation of non-GAAP financial information to GAAP financial information included in financial tables section of this earnings release. Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons with prior periods refer to the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q09).

OPERATING AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Copa Holdings reported net income of US$92.8 million for 4Q10 or earnings per share (EPS) of US$2.11, as compared to net income of US$ 70.4 million or EPS of US$1.60 in 4Q09.  Excluding special items, Copa Holdings reported an adjusted net income of US$81.2 million, representing a 23.7% increase over adjusted net income of US$65.7 million in 4Q09.

Net income for full year 2010 reached US$212.1 million or EPS of US$4.82 , compared to US$240.4 million or EPS of US$5.47 for full year 2009.  Excluding special items, however, Copa Holdings reported an adjusted net income of US$219.2 million compared to US$201.7 for full year 2009, representing an increase of 8.7%.

Operating income for 4Q10 came in at US$89.0 million, representing an increase of 24.0% over operating income of US$71.8 million in 4Q09.  Adjusted operating income, which excludes a US$4.8 million special fleet charge recorded in 4Q09, increased 16.2% from US$76.6 million in 4Q09 to US$89.0 million in 4Q10.  Operating margin for 4Q10 came in at 21.7%,

The Company reported operating income of US$263.0 million for full year 2010, representing an increase of 8.3% over adjusted operating income of US$242.7 million.  Operating margin for full year 2010 came in at 18.6% as compared to an adjusted operating margin of 19.4% in 2009.

Total revenues for 4Q10 increased 19.7% to US$410.6 million. Yield per passenger mile increased 0.7% to 16.5 cents and operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM) came in at 13.7 cents, flat over 4Q09.  On a length of haul adjusted basis, yields and RASM increased 3.2% and 2.6%, respectively.

For 4Q10 consolidated passenger traffic grew 18.6% while capacity increased 19.6%.  As a result, consolidated load factor for the quarter decreased 0.6 percentage points to 78.8%.  For full year 2010, consolidated load factor came in at 76.9%, up 2.2 percentage points over 2009, on 10.5% capacity growth.

Operating cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased 0.8%, from 10.9 cents in 4Q09 to 10.8 cents in 4Q10.  CASM, excluding fuel costs and special fleet charges for 4Q09, decreased 2.6% from 7.6 cents in 4Q09 to 7.4 cents in 4Q10, mostly as a result of the dilution effect of capacity added in the second half of 2010.

Cash, short term and long term investments ended 2010 at US$408.8 million, representing 29% of the last twelve months’ revenues.

During the fourth quarter, Copa Airlines took delivery of three Boeing 737-800s.  As a result, Copa Holdings ended the year with a consolidated fleet of 63 aircraft, composed of 20 Boeing 737-700s, 17 Boeing 737-800s and 26 Embraer-190s.

For 2010, Copa Airlines reported on-time performance of 90.7% and a flight-completion factor of 99.6%, maintaining its position among the best in the industry.