Chorus Aviation Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
May 9, 2023

Key Takeaways

  • Free cash flow surged 51% year-over-year to $73.1 million and adjusted earnings per share rose 10% to $0.11, reflecting strong operational execution in Q1 2023.
  • The leverage ratio improved to 4.0x from 4.4x in Q4 2022 as the company accelerated debt repayments, moving closer to its 2.5–3.5x target range.
  • Felco closed transactions on 24 aircraft (including six lease extensions) and Fund 1’s ABS facility is expected to be upgraded from BBB to A- by KBRA, highlighting robust leasing demand.
  • Voyager generated a record $30 million in quarterly revenue—driven by higher parts sales—while maintaining its EBITDA margins, underlining the resilience of its MRO segment.
  • Chorus launched Signet Aviation Academy in partnership with CAE to train up to 200 cadet pilots, aiming to become a profitable, standalone training business and support future talent pipelines.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Chorus Aviation Q1 2023
00:00 / 00:00

There are 12 speakers on the call.

Operator

Morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Chorus Aviation First Quarter 2023 Financial Results Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in a listen only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. This call is being recorded on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr.

Operator

Tyrone Cote. Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Jenny. Hello and thank you for joining us today for our Q1 2023 conference call and audio webcast. With me today from Corus Our call is Colin Kopp, President and Chief Executive Officer and Gary Osborne, Chief Financial Officer. We'll start today's call by giving a brief overview of the results Because some of the discussions in this call may be forward looking, I direct your attention to the caution regarding forward looking statements and information that is included and referenced in our MD and A with respect to the results and operations Of course, Aviation Inc. For the 3 months ended March 31, 2023, the outlook section and other sections of our MD and A where such statements appear.

Speaker 1

In addition,

Speaker 2

some of

Speaker 1

the following discussion involves non GAAP financial measures, including references to adjusted net income, adjusted EBT, adjusted EBITDA, leverage ratio and free cash flows. Please refer to our MD and A for discussion relating to the use of such non GAAP measures. I'll now turn the call over to Colin Kompkins.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Tyrone, and good morning, everyone. This marks my first analyst call as CEO, and I'm very pleased to be here speaking with Today about our Q1 results and outlook. We delivered a strong quarter, which was very much in line with our expectations And our results demonstrate the execution of our strategy that we outlined during our Investor Day held in Toronto in March. In the quarter, we produced free cash flow of $73,100,000 and adjusted earnings available to common Shareholders of $0.11 per common share, representing increases of 51% and 10%, respectively. We continue our transition towards an asset light leasing model that will reduce our leverage, de risk the business And provide a higher quality of earnings as we execute on asset sales, allow us to grow and invest in our fund management business at Felco, Provide future opportunities to invest in accretive transactions in adjacent and complementary business lines and provide an opportunity for us to improve shareholder returns and allow for the return of capital to our shareholders.

Speaker 2

To that end, we continue to pay down the debt and further reduce our leverage during the quarter, resulting in a 9 Improvement in our leverage ratio, bringing it down to 4.0, which is closer to our targeted range of 2.5 to 3 We continue to see encouraging signs of increasing demand in the regional aviation sector With improvements in aircraft rental rates and market values as published by the various industry publications such as ISHKA. During the quarter, Felco announced transactions relating to 24 aircraft, including lease extensions on 6 aircraft, predominantly related to the regional jet sector and European market. On the fundraising side, we have experienced good engagement and steady progress and continue to anticipate the first See an upgrade by Kroll KBRA of Falco's Fund 1 ABS facility moving from a BBB to an A-. The upgrade is driven by the overall performance of the transaction, where since closing, the loans have received all scheduled interest and principal payments, demonstrating Felco's strength in managing its portfolio. And for the first time in history, Voyager earned $30,000,000 in quarterly revenue, driven mainly by improved parts sales, while maintaining its EBITDA margins.

Speaker 2

And lastly, we are very pleased to announce the establishment of our new pilot academy, Signet Aviation. Signet is the 1st of its kind academy in the Canadian market, offering leading edge flight training that provides direct access to airline pilot careers. Signet has partnered with CAE to deliver a truly unique offering that will provide a new source of highly trained airline ready pilots for our operating business units and the wider industry. Last month, we celebrated the launch of the new academy with a gathering at the Signet training facility in Kingston, Ontario, which was extremely well attended by local government, key community officials, current and future pilot cadets, I'll now pass it over to Gary to take you through the financials.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Colin, and good morning. In the Q1 of 2023, Chorus reported earnings and free cash flows that were in line with our expectations. With adjusted net income available to common shareholders of $0.11 per common share, an increase of $0.01 from Q1 2022, Adjusted EBITDA of $118,100,000 an increase of $34,800,000 over the Q1 of 2022 and free cash flow was $73,100,000 an increase of $24,700,000 from Q1 2022. As we look at our performance, the RAL segment's adjusted EBITDA was $61,600,000 A quarter over quarter increase of $29,900,000 primarily due to the inclusion of earnings from Falco. In the RAS segment's adjusted EBITDA was $63,900,000 an increase of $6,500,000 over the Q1 of 2022.

Speaker 3

1st quarter results in RAS were primarily impacted by an increase in other revenue of $6,700,000 related to an increase in part sales of Voyager And an increase in aircraft leasing revenue under the CPA of $2,400,000 primarily due to higher U. S. Dollar exchange rates, offset by an increase in general and administrative expenses attributable to increased operations. Corporate adjusted EBITDA or net Expenses of $7,400,000 were higher than the Q1 of 2022 by $1,600,000 due to an increase in general and administrative expenses. Adjusted net income was $30,800,000 for the quarter, an increase of $13,100,000 over the Q1 of 2022 due to the increase in adjusted EBITDA previously described and an improvement in the change in net foreign exchange of $2,100,000 partially offset by an increase in depreciation expense of $13,000,000 primarily attributable to Falco and capital expenditures in 2022, An increase of $5,400,000 in income tax expense and an increase in net interest costs of $5,400,000 primarily related to the interest on long term debt assumed as part of the Falko acquisition.

Speaker 3

Net income increased $9,100,000 over the Q1 of 2022, primarily due to the previously noted increase in adjusted net income, notwithstanding offsetting changes in certain expenses and a decrease in net unrealized foreign exchange gains of $2,500,000 We continue to pay down our debt as expected, Ending the quarter with a leverage ratio of 4.0, an improvement of 0.4 from December 2022 Debt repayments and an increase in adjusted EBITDA primarily related to the inclusion of earnings from the Falco acquisition, Continue making progress towards our target of 2.5% to 3.5% by Q4 2024. During the quarter, we drew on our operating credit facility to fund investments in working capital. We have expanded our credit facility to from 100 to $150,000,000 starting in Q2 2022, subject to a borrowing base. We expect to support any periodic working capital requirements through this facility. Based on our Q1 2023 results and our forecast for the remainder of the year, the guidance previously provided remains unchanged.

Speaker 3

Key elements of our guidance for 2023 are contained in the outlook section of the MD and A.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer Your first question is from Hillary Takanondo from Deutsche Bank. Please ask your question.

Speaker 4

Thanks for taking my questions. I just wanted to get a better understanding of the Signet Aviation Academy. I guess you placed the graduating pilots into Jazz and ultimately to Air Canada, but is this something where you could work with other airlines other than Air And then I'd like to place the graduating pilots. And is this considered a business unit that you actually like make a margin on? Or is this just Or do you just consider this more of an internal program to enhance your talent pool?

Speaker 2

Good morning, Hillary. It's Colin. Yes, great question. So yes, the design of Signet is really an industry business. It's not Specific to Jazz or to Voyager or any of our internal businesses, obviously, they're going to have a priority and their own focus on What their needs are, so we've started the business that way, but there are several other airlines that we're working with to start to transition pilots through.

Speaker 2

And so yes, it's definitely for the broader spectrum. And far as the profitability or Financial side of that business, it is a standalone independent business and the goal that we have and in the plan Is for it to be profitable and accretive to KORUS for sure.

Speaker 4

Okay. So will it be rolled up into part of RAS, Yes,

Speaker 3

it will be rolled out, Barry.

Speaker 2

It is. Yes, absolutely. Okay. As a standalone.

Speaker 4

Okay. So we'll see like a separate line attributed to that?

Speaker 3

No, I don't think I wouldn't expect a separate line, Hillary. And we expect the earnings to be modest. As it grows, it's probably going to have 120 to 140 pilots at its Peak at least is currently staffed and put in the infrastructure put in place. So it will be modest, but it will be accretive or it will produce a bottom line.

Speaker 4

Okay. Got it. And then I guess just regarding Fund 3, Jeremy had said that, I guess, the plan is to invest 100 to 120, about 120 aircraft into the fund. Do you have like a target composition in terms of which aircraft you're targeting to have in the portfolio and the age group?

Speaker 3

So it's Gary here. I wouldn't say there's a target per se. When they construct a fund, they go to market, they have concentration limits On particular lessees, geographic limits, they look at the creditworthiness of the various lessees. That's probably the biggest piece. Then you move into the aircraft itself and whatnot.

Speaker 3

So certainly what you see in the market, there's E2s as far as new aircraft, there's We, ATRs and others. I think at this stage though, I would say, lessee quality and the quality of the airline probably weighs more than the aircraft

Operator

Thank you. Your next question is from Kevin Chiang from CIBC. Please ask your question.

Speaker 5

Thanks for taking my question and good morning everybody. Maybe just on the wind up of the The Revlon portfolio that you noted in your MD and A, it looks like you'll have this completed over the next couple of years here. I guess, one, I suspect some of this is opportunistic. Do you have a sense of how we should think about those asset sales over the next couple of years? And then secondly, how we should be thinking about the EBITDA or maybe the net income contribution today Versus maybe what comes out of the earnings stream as you divest of those and eventually have to redeploy that capital?

Speaker 3

Yes. Kevin, it's Gary here. On the RAVELM portfolio, when we look at the Fund 1, that Fund 1, it's certainly due to be wound up We would hope to have it done by then or earlier. So I think when you look at the asset sales, they will be lumpy. I think we've kind of said that.

Speaker 3

Even for this year, it's going to be towards the back end of our year or the second half of our year. We didn't really anticipate that much in the first part. So you can expect And then back to what we talked about on our Investor Day, as we start to sell off those assets, harvest the We'll certainly look at our capital allocation priorities, including debt reduction and return of capital to shareholders And reinvestment in the business and make the appropriate decision at that point in time. And yes, so that's how the asset sales will On Fund 1, and I see the upgrades on the debt facility by KBRA there as being a good thing that it shows that the portfolio is Doing well.

Speaker 5

And I took it simplistically and said, you had a target return metric. And you've talked about kind of mid teens ROE. If I just apply that to the book value, is that kind of A good run rate to think of the earnings. I don't want to call it a headwind, but essentially the earnings adjustments we should be thinking of making As you sell down RAVELIN over the next couple of years or is that too punitive of a way to look at it?

Speaker 3

It's a reasonable way. You could also go back to some of the disclosure we gave last year where we broke out the Felco assets because Under the Falco wing and you could look at that as being kind of the adjustment that would happen within it to use that average. That would be another way to go at it.

Speaker 5

Okay. That's helpful. And maybe just my second and last question here. Just on The training program and facility you're opening up here, you noted 120 to 140 pilots. Is that what the threshold would be?

Speaker 5

I just want to confirm that. And then secondly, I guess, how many pilots do you normally flow through to Air Canada? Just trying to get a sense of if you're training 120 to 140, What percentage of that you'd likely keep in house just given your own natural turnover through the flow through program versus maybe Excess training slots that you could obviously sell to other airlines.

Speaker 2

Hi, Kevin. It's Colin. Yes, the Signet the way we design the Signet organization is To scale, and on the short term, Gary is right, it's in that $140,000,000 range in a very, very short term. A little bit longer, we're well over 200, and we're working on a plan to build that out to kind of 200 plus with CAE. So there's lots of opportunity there and we see that growing very, very quickly.

Speaker 2

We've had Incredible uptake there, not only from interested students, but also the industry as far as other airlines. So that's pretty much the growth is up to 200 in the near term. And as far as the float Air Canada goes, there is no number I Give you that's real because it is all over the map and it really depends on Air Canada's needs and their plans. We've had years that have been several 100, a few 100 pilots flowing in a given year, and we've had years where there is no flow. So it's very much all over the map and it's really dependent on Air Canada's needs and what they're doing, what their retirements look like, what their growth in fleet, What's going on with the transition in fleet, so on and so forth.

Speaker 2

So we don't see 100% of our pilot needs coming From the Flight School or integrated ATPL, we also have Jazz has multiple other sources of pilots That they're attracting talent from across the industry and various other flight schools. So they've got a very broad Brush to be able to kind of look at the industry and attract talent and they've been very successful. All of their training classes are They have no shortage of ability to get people in the door from a pilot perspective. And what Signet does is it really helps Support that flow, to support the needs of Jazz and Voyager, As well as the broader industry, which is really one of the big things when we looked at doing this, given that it was such a shift in our thinking around the Type of training that we do, the quality of training that it would allow us to really provide a kind of a boost to the industry as we go forward here So hopefully I've answered your question.

Speaker 5

No, that's very, very helpful. Thank you very much. I'll leave it there. Thanks, Darren and Colin. That's very insightful.

Operator

Thank you. The next question is from Walter Spracklin from RBC Capital Markets. Please ask your

Speaker 6

Chen? Thanks very much. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. Yes, the Signet is very interesting.

Speaker 6

I think it's a great way again to help Diversify your business and congratulations on entering that line. Just curious is the Collyn, is this something you're focused on in terms of further diversifying your model? And are there other opportunities that you see out there that will allow you to kind of Drive revenue in different places. And how far field do you have to go though? Like how far are you willing to go?

Speaker 6

There's a few other companies that kind of are also in regional airline, but they've really gone along Tact of being more like a holding company of a number of very different businesses. Are you willing to go that far? Or do you want to kind of Keep within your wheelhouse of in the along the lines of aviation as you are right now.

Speaker 2

Yes. I'll tackle the first question kind of on Signet and its growth and relationships there. Absolutely. The real big thing with Signet is our relationship with CAE. And fundamentally, that gives you a very broad And scope in the industry.

Speaker 2

It also comes with great credibility. I mean, we at our organization bring a ton of credibility kind of from The training in the industry and the operating side, and as you know, CAE brings a ton of credibility from the Kind of the flight training side as far as airline business goes. So it's a great combination. We see a ton of opportunity there to grow that business as kind of expanded out and move it into other areas. As far as the broader picture of Corus and our plans and big picture, We see ourselves sticking in aviation.

Speaker 2

We don't see ourselves today moving outside of aviation or aerospace. And we think there's lots of opportunity in there. It's the strength that we bring to the table is really our expertise in house. There's nobody else really like us that has at our level, the Chorus level, The aviation strength that we bring to the table. So we see that as quite valuable and we're look as we look at opportunities across the spectrum and we're out speaking to companies Looking at these various companies, the thing that we always get from these folks is that They would love to work with us and be owned by us, a company like us that understands the business.

Speaker 2

And that's one of our leverage points Versus going to a pure financial model from a holding cost. So we See that as leverage and we're going to continue to stick with that. But there's lots of verticals outside of what we're in today that work well with our current book of businesses.

Speaker 6

Yes, that's very encouraging. Moving over to your leasing You were seeing OEMs having longer backlog, bigger backlogs, longer lead times, some delays and so forth. Are you seeing Is that resulting in a pickup or increased demand for aircraft leasing and as well For your MRO and part provisioning business as some of these delays and longer lead times come from the OEMs?

Speaker 2

Yes. Yes, absolutely. I think when you look at the Belco side of the business and the leasing side of the business, What we are seeing is really strong demand, especially for regional jets. If you have an aircraft today That doesn't need maintenance and that's available, and it's an Embraer product or a CRJ900 or something like that. It's pretty much guaranteed you got a spot to place that airplane.

Speaker 2

There is no question about that. So the demand is extremely Strong from that perspective. On the MRO side, what we're seeing is all of our facilities are full. We have no space, no white space left. Everything is chock or block full.

Speaker 2

Jazz, Jazz, their JTS MRO business is looking at new opportunities, find Ways to expand or do additional work, looking for space to do work. Voyager, all of our 200,000 square feet is full. There's no room there So really strong demand, used parts, the USM parts side of the business Growing very rapidly as we expand that. And as you can see from the results, I think Gary spoke to it a little bit. Certainly, I commented on Some of our result performance is related to that USM growth for sure.

Speaker 6

That's great. I guess that offsets the question I had about risk and we've seen in the news a lot of some airlines hitting some liquidity issues and Just I was going to ask whether you're seeing any resurgence in delinquencies or among your leasing clients, but particularly on the low cost carrier side. But it sounds like given the picture you painted on demand, it sounds like if there was a delinquency that spot would be pretty filled up pretty quickly.

Speaker 2

Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 6

Okay. That's it. That's all my questions. I appreciate the time.

Speaker 7

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next one is from David Ocampo from Cormark Securities. Please ask your question.

Speaker 8

Thanks. Good morning, everyone.

Speaker 3

Thanks. Good morning.

Speaker 8

I just wanted to follow-up on Walter's last two line of questions. I mean, if I take a look at The amount of lease revenue that you collected in the quarter was at 84%. And if I compare that to Q4, it was 88% and then Q3 was 91%. So So just curious if you can comment on what's driving that? Is it concentrated to 1 counterparty?

Speaker 8

Or is this something that you're seeing throughout your portfolio?

Speaker 3

Yes, sorry, it's Gary here. What we're seeing, it's really just a handful of airlines we work with. It's pretty consistent quarter over quarter as far as That group and we're pretty comfortable with where things are. It's just you're going to see some movement in those numbers from time to time, but we're not seeing anything that's alarming at this stage.

Speaker 8

And how should we see that trending throughout the year? Should that 84% number gravitate higher into that kind of 90% range?

Speaker 3

We would hope it will gravitate higher as the year goes on. We continue to work with our lessees and that I'm talking about there, It's something that we're still comfortable with the risk and the season behind it.

Speaker 8

Got it. And then just on the fund, I mean, it's been pretty well telegraphed The market that you're going to launch this. And it does seem like there's a lot of demand out there. So I'm just curious if you've already had discussions with airlines even though the fund isn't launched yet. And can we expect a faster deployment of capital than we've seen at the previous two funds?

Speaker 3

It's Gary here. I don't know if you would see a faster deployment of capital. You would always hope to, but I think the The first thing is to get the fund launched, then you get through that piece and then you start moving along. And just to remind, Fund II It's still active. They're still placing aircraft and that's going through the balance of this year.

Speaker 3

And then you're going to start to move yourself into the Fund III So typically, you launch your new fund once you get at least a 75% of the commitments in your previous funds, say Fund 2. So I would say, I don't think you're going to see as fast or faster

Speaker 2

deployment of the capital.

Speaker 3

I'd say it's probably going to

Speaker 8

And I guess how are you guys balancing that? You still have dry powder available in Fund II. Is it You need Fund 2 to fully fill up before you can start deploying capital at Fund 3?

Speaker 3

No, that's not the way it works. You get to about 75% and then you start working on your 3rd fund. And typically, I think Fund II is pretty much it's going to be fully deployed here in the not too distant future. So Yes, we don't see any hindrance from that into Fund 3.

Speaker 8

Okay. That's it. That's all the questions I had. Thanks a lot guys.

Speaker 7

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next one is from Tim James from TD Securities. Please ask your question.

Speaker 9

Thanks very much. Good morning, everyone. I just want to return to Voyager for a moment. I think there was a comment about the margin Performance being relatively steady. I assume that means year over year, but maybe you can just help me understand that.

Speaker 9

And then just thinking about that business, revenue growth It was very strong. You mentioned about a mix change. Can you talk a little bit about the moving parts That we should think of for Voyager margins going forward and as you work your way towards your longer term target of $150,000,000 in annualized Revenue. And I guess where I'm going with this is, do you feel margin is kind of at a healthy sustainable rate and maybe there's not a lot of upside there right now? It's really kind of revenue driven, the dollars of upside or is there the potential for more margin expansion?

Speaker 3

It's Gary here. I'll take the first part at least on the margin, the EBITDA margin, it's consistent with what we gave out on Investor Day. So that's what we're referencing. That's the points that was in the 24%, 25% range as we listed there. So From that perspective, we're feeling very good about where Voyager is going.

Speaker 3

They're maintaining the margins while expanding their revenue base.

Speaker 2

I think, yes, I'll try to give you some color on the rest. Look, we've refocused Voyager in the last coming as we Came out of COVID there and the challenges with that couple of years that we all had. And fortunately, we Had that time to kind of refocus them on this USM and Defense side of the business and that's been a big part of their growth. And we see continued growth, strong growth in that area. That's where most of their growth is going to come from over the next short period of time.

Speaker 2

And And both those areas, as Gary has alluded to and we talked to during the Investor Day, both those areas have very strong margins. So we continue to see Voyager growing from a top line perspective quite well over the Next period of time as well as producing strong margins on a bigger part of their business for sure.

Speaker 9

Thank you. Then moving on and this ties into Signet,

Speaker 3

I suppose, but maybe more broadly speaking about

Speaker 9

Jazz. Have you been restricted or limited at all recently in your ability To increase block hours in flying for Air Canada due to the availability of pilots?

Speaker 3

So the

Speaker 2

yes, I mean that's a good question. The pilot flow as we move pilots around the system, it does Gives some ups and downs in our ability to provide block hours. So it's really principally controlled by the flow and the decisions that Air Within Jazz is to provide that backfill of the pilots as required. And it does take a little bit of time to get those pilots through training and get them up And back in those seats and transitioning. But there's really no Significant impact to our ability to deliver on the long term on flight hours.

Speaker 2

It's more Just around the timing of as you move these pilots around the system, it does create some reductions, pluses and minuses in the block hours for sure. And the training classes are all full. We have no problems attracting pilots. We've been very successful at getting qualified candidates In the door and in our training classes.

Speaker 9

Okay. Thank you. And then I guess just my final question. I'm just wondering if you can provide any more details or insights around the what CAE and Chorus bring to Signet. And I'm thinking in terms of what Assets each contributes, what employees each contributes, just any sort of additional color you can provide there would be helpful.

Speaker 2

Sure. It's a standalone business, Cygnet Aviation Academy based in Kingston, Ontario. It is a Corus owned company. The Corus side of the business contributes all of the AB initial training, the flight school, the aircraft. We do basically Where CAE's relationship with us comes in is really on the initial screening side.

Speaker 2

CAE brings A great deal of expertise to the screening of talent as you look at new pilots. And so we utilize a lot of their support and their tools To help us with determining the quality of candidates and selection of candidates. And that's also where the other airline institutions come in. So as the airlines start to look at students, they're part of that process as we select And then they also CAE would also be there when you get to the type endorsement. So as the Individual finishes up their flight training, they get their integrated ATPL, they will be going on to CAA to do the final Endorsement training on whatever aircraft type that might be with depending on the airline's choice.

Speaker 2

So that could be a CRJ, that could Via Q400, that could be a 737. It really depends on the airline. So the concept is you've got an airline, You've got a great flight training and operating business that knows the industry, and you've got CAE, who is one of the Top leading training institutions in the world, all working together to produce an individual as a pilot from day 1 As right through until they get in that seat within the airline.

Speaker 9

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you very much.

Speaker 6

You're welcome.

Operator

Thank you. The next one is from Cameron Doerksen San from National Bank Financial. Please ask your question.

Speaker 10

Yes, thanks. Good morning. Just back to Fund 3 for a second. Just Just wondering if you can give us an update on the sort of the capital raising efforts here. I mean, it sounded at the Investor Day like you were pretty confident in raising at least the minimum.

Speaker 10

Just wondering You're aware if you can provide any, I guess, additional information on what commitments you've had so far and I guess, upon your confidence in getting to that $500,000,000 plus mark.

Speaker 2

Hi, Cameron. It's Colin. I'll I can't give you any specifics here, but we've been making great progress. Excellent job of engaging the key LPs. Lots of progress has been made.

Speaker 2

We still feel very comfortable With seeing kind of the first close prior to or around The end of Q2. And we've had lots of interest. So I like if we were really We'd probably be talking about that, but we feel very comfortable and we see it pretty much on track.

Speaker 10

Okay. No, that's good to hear. And I guess maybe a question on the asset management fees. I know you've talked about this in the past, but there's variability quarter to quarter. And I just wonder if you can just remind us What would drive that variability?

Speaker 10

I mean, if it's based on committed capital, I would think it'd be a little more, I guess, steady quarter to quarter. So just Maybe just a reminder for me, just what drives that kind of variability in the asset management fee revenue line item from quarter to quarter?

Speaker 3

Yes, it's Gary here. Typically, as we've said, the asset management fees are 1% to 1.5%. I think if you look at this quarter, it's very It's in line with the average of last year. So from that perspective, it's good. But there are some fees that make their way through from time to time, whether they're Proxy for where things are, but that's what leads to some of the lumpiness in there.

Speaker 10

Okay. And The committed capital that drives the fees, that includes the capital in Fund 1, correct? I mean, I know that Fund 1 is consolidated on the balance sheet, but the asset management fee component of that, that's included in those in the revenue line item, correct?

Speaker 3

No, that's Fund 1 does not have any asset management fees we recognize because we consolidate it and where we own It only relates to Fund 2 in the managed assets that we have on the books. So it's really related to that.

Speaker 10

Okay. No, that's great. That clarifies that. And just maybe just one other quick, Thanks for the kind of question. Just in the cash flow statement, there is an investment in funds line item.

Speaker 10

I mean, it was I forget the number was $1,900,000 or something like that. I'm just wondering What that's related to in Q1?

Speaker 3

Yes. So we sometimes have to invest in Fund II and others. Remember, we have the 3.85% That we own of that. So there's an amount of money that goes back and forth here and there.

Speaker 10

So yes,

Speaker 3

that's what that relates to.

Speaker 10

Okay. So there's no I guess there's no way for us to kind of to model that, but just quarter to quarter? No, it's

Speaker 3

very Cameron, it's really just comes down to when they need the money in the fund related to asset deployment. So, you just have to look at the commitments we make and It will be it's not going to be linear. It's going to be based on demand and need. It's not just a straight amort schedule.

Speaker 10

Right. Okay, fair enough. That was all I had. Thanks very much.

Operator

Thank you. The next one is from Konark Gupta from Scotiabank. Please ask your question.

Speaker 11

Thanks, operator. Good morning, everyone, and congrats on a good quarter. Great. So my first question, I think you guys mentioned the asset sales you're expecting This year, Almir is skewed toward the second half. Do you still have a good visibility on the $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 value that you provided earlier?

Speaker 3

It's Gary here. Yes, we certainly see the second half of the year. It's traditionally been where we've seen asset sales anyway in the regional space. So that's Certainly why we expect it there. We do have an asset trading desk at Falco.

Speaker 3

So that's been set up and they've had a lot of They're in the market now as we speak, putting aircraft out there. So from that perspective, we're starting to get visibility and we're getting feedback from And we're still anticipating hitting that $50,000,000 to $100,000,000 in the second half of this year.

Speaker 11

Okay, that's great. Thank you. And are those asset sales extracted entirely to be driven by the Revlon wind down or The other funds or even Castle would be involved?

Speaker 3

It is a mix. It includes Fund 1. It includes Assets at Castle, it includes assets that we acquired as a result of the Falko acquisition that came across it. It is a mix of assets.

Speaker 11

Okay, that's great. Thanks. And then in the existing Castle business, I'm just wondering, it seems like SpiceJet Returned about 5 Q400s. They're off lease now, plus you already had about, I think, 1 Q400 from Philippines. Do you intend to remarket all these 6 Q400s or would they be monetized as well?

Speaker 3

Yes. So we'll look to do what's best for us. If monetize them, sell them, we'll do that. If it's to release them to a client, we're going to do that. So we're remarketing them as we speak.

Speaker 3

And yes, we did take back the 5 or in Process of taking back those 5 aircraft, which we provided for last year.

Speaker 11

Okay. Makes sense. Thanks. And then If you look at, I think in the disclosures, there was a $6,700,000 figure for the end of lease maintenance Is that SpiceJet related or is that something else?

Speaker 3

I can say it's not SpiceJet related. So It is something else. These things will come up from time to time in our leasing business, even though it may be specific to a client, so it's really one time to the client. But as we start to take back aircraft, release them and whatnot, you're going to see these releases from time to time. And but anyway, it did not relate to SpiceJet.

Speaker 11

Makes sense. And last one for me. For the Fund III, I know you're confident in closing the first tranche pretty soon here in the second quarter. Have you seen or have you noticed any kind of probably like volatility or any kind of Change in interest given what we have seen in the U. S.

Speaker 11

Regional bank market lately or that has nothing to do with the Fund III?

Speaker 2

Yes. Hi, Konark, it's Colin. Look, I mean, that's a common question we get. We've gotten that question quite a bit. We've spent a lot of time looking at this and working with Falko closely on this and the LPs.

Speaker 2

And the answer is No, there hasn't been a lot of there's certainly been questions, but there hasn't been any lack of interest or change in focus So our interest in Fund 3, it continues to track as planned. And like we said earlier, we kind things to come together with the first close here as we get close to the end of Q2.

Speaker 11

That's pretty comforting. Thanks so much, Colin, and thanks, Gary.

Speaker 7

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. The next one is from Matthew Lee from Canaccord Genuity. Please ask your question.

Speaker 7

Hi, good morning and thanks for taking my question. Most of my queries are answered, but maybe just a housekeeping question here. On the collection side, your receivables is at $110,000,000 gross, with the expectation of a decrease of $100,000,000 by the end of the year. Can you maybe just talk about how confident you are in the ability to collect those receivables? And do you maybe have a target as to where you like that balance to go in the longer term?

Speaker 3

It's Gary here. We're confident in collecting the receivables. So otherwise, we wouldn't leave them on the books the way they sit. Ideally, we wanted to be 0, But it will take time to do that. Some of these receivables will take a number of years to distinguish, but we're confident at this stage.

Speaker 7

Okay, great. And then in terms of sales, just given your earlier comments on the demand of aircraft, Is it fair you're still seeing or federal assuming you're still seeing the opportunity to sell your aircraft at book value or better? And could you potentially accelerate those sales in 'twenty three if the opportunity arises?

Speaker 3

Yes. So right now, we're in the market. We're still confident in our book value. We're still moving around to get that demand. If we have an opportunity to transact earlier, we are absolutely going to do it.

Speaker 3

So, but we it's opportunistic sales in the sense of We want to make sure we optimize our value here.

Speaker 7

All right. Thanks. I appreciate it.

Operator

Thank you. The next one is from Tim James from TD Securities. Please ask your question.

Speaker 9

Thank you. It's just a follow-up and actually it was addressed by a recent comment. So thank you anyways.

Speaker 3

Thanks Tim.

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