GATX Corporation Reports 2019 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results

CHICAGO, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GATX Corporation (NYSE: GATX) today reported 2019 fourth-quarter net income of $56.6 million or $1.59 per diluted share, compared to net income of $49.2 million or $1.30 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2018. The 2019 fourth-quarter results include a net casualty gain of approximately $8.1 million or $0.23 per diluted share, attributed to an insurance recovery for a damaged vessel at American Steamship Company (ASC). 2018 fourth quarter results include a net benefit from Tax Adjustments and Other Items of $17.3 million or $0.46 per diluted share.

Net income for the full-year 2019 was $211.2 million or $5.81 per diluted share, compared to $211.3 million or $5.52 per diluted share in the prior year. The 2019 and 2018 full-year results include net benefits from Tax Adjustments and Other Items of $0.30 per diluted share in each year. Details related to Tax Adjustments and Other Items are provided in the attached Supplemental Information.

“Despite the uncertain global economy, we exceeded our original expectations and produced excellent financial results in 2019,” said Brian A. Kenney, president and chief executive officer of GATX. “In Rail North America, a continuing market oversupply of railcars, coupled with reduced carload volume and increased railroad velocity, put pressure on lease rates throughout the year. However, our commercial team’s outstanding performance in maintaining 99% fleet utilization combined with further efficiency improvements in our maintenance network resulted in Rail North America exceeding its segment profit expectations.

“Rail International performed near expectations in local currency, as demand for our railcars remained strong in Europe and India. Fleet utilization at GATX Rail Europe ended the year above 99%, and our fleet at Rail India grew to almost 3,700 railcars. The pace of investment at both entities was constrained by increasing new car production backlogs. Within Portfolio Management, our Rolls-Royce and Partners Finance affiliates significantly exceeded our expectations due to continued high demand for aircraft spare engines and strong residual realization. Finally, American Steamship Company delivered a solid year, supported by a combination of favorable weather conditions and high water levels.”

Mr. Kenney added, “For 2020, we anticipate declining performance at Rail North America to be offset by increasingly strong performance in Rail International and Portfolio Management. Specifically, we expect the aforementioned market challenges in the North American rail industry to persist in 2020. Revenue pressure on the existing fleet should continue as the average lease rate on lease renewals should be lower than the average expiring lease rate. This will be the main driver behind lower segment profit in Rail North America in 2020.

“Rail International’s 2020 segment profit is expected to increase due to continued strong demand for new and existing railcars in Europe and India. We also anticipate Portfolio Management to generate higher segment profit in 2020, as our Rolls-Royce and Partners Finance affiliates continue to produce strong results. Lastly, ASC’s segment profit is expected to decline slightly in 2020 due to lower tonnage.”

Mr. Kenney concluded, “Based on these factors, we currently expect 2020 earnings to be in the range of $5.50 to $5.80 per diluted share – continued excellent performance given the headwinds in the North American railcar leasing market.”

RAIL NORTH AMERICA
Rail North America reported segment profit of $61.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to $66.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Segment profit was impacted by lower lease revenue in the quarter. Full-year 2019 Rail North America reported segment profit of $276.2 million, compared to $307.9 million in 2018. Higher revenues in 2019 were more than offset by lower gains on asset dispositions and higher ownership costs in 2019, resulting in lower segment profit.

At Dec. 31, 2019, Rail North America’s wholly owned fleet was approximately 118,000 cars, including more than 15,000 boxcars. The following fleet statistics exclude the boxcar fleet.

Fleet utilization was 99.3% at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 99.2% at the end of the prior quarter and 99.4% at 2018 year end. During the fourth quarter, the renewal lease rate change of the GATX Lease Price Index (LPI) was negative 9.1%. This compares to negative 7.7% in the prior quarter and negative 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2018. The average lease renewal term for all cars included in the LPI during the fourth quarter was 37 months, compared to 40 months in the prior quarter and 43 months in the fourth quarter of 2018. The fourth-quarter renewal success rate was 84.0%, compared to 75.2% at the end of the prior quarter and 88.9% at 2018 year end.

For full-year 2019, the renewal lease rate change of the LPI was negative 3.9% and the average renewal term was 39 months, compared to negative 9.8% and 38 months in 2018. The renewal success rate for 2019 was 82.2%, compared to 82.9% in 2018. Asset remarketing income for the year was $58.9 million and total investment volume was $502.2 million.

Additional fleet statistics, including information on the boxcar fleet, and macroeconomic data related to Rail North America’s business are provided on the last page of this press release.

RAIL INTERNATIONAL
Rail International’s segment profit was $22.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to $16.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Rail International reported full-year segment profit of $78.9 million in 2019, compared to $68.6 million in 2018. The year-to-date 2018 results include $9.5 million of expense ($6.4 million after-tax) related to the closure of GATX Rail Europe’s (GRE) railcar maintenance facility in Germany. Excluding this expense, full-year 2019 segment profit was favorable to 2018 primarily driven by more railcars on lease, partly offset by foreign exchange impacts.

At the end of 2019, GRE’s fleet consisted of approximately 24,600 cars and utilization was 99.3%, compared to 99.4% at the end of the prior quarter and 98.8% at 2018 year end.

Additional fleet statistics for GRE are provided on the last page of this press release.

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Portfolio Management reported segment profit of $27.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to $4.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Segment profit year-to-date 2019 was $62.4 million, compared to $38.7 million for the same period of 2018.

The increase in quarter and full-year 2019 segment profit is primarily attributable to stronger operating performance and higher remarketing income at the Rolls-Royce and Partners Finance affiliates.

AMERICAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY
American Steamship Company (ASC) reported segment profit of $19.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to $12.3 million a year ago. Segment profit for full-year 2019 was $46.1 million, compared to $33.0 million in 2018. The 2019-quarter and year-to-date results include a $10.5 million net casualty gain ($8.1 million after-tax) related to an insurance recovery for a vessel heavily damaged by fire and written off. Excluding this impact, the increase in 2019 full-year segment profit was primarily attributable to favorable operating conditions and efficient fleet performance.

In 2019, ASC operated 11 vessels and carried approximately 27.0 million of net tons of cargo, compared to 11 vessels that carried 26.2 million net tons in 2018.

COMPANY DESCRIPTION
GATX Corporation (NYSE: GATX) strives to be recognized as the finest railcar leasing company in the world by our customers, our shareholders, our employees and the communities where we operate. As the leading global railcar lessor, GATX has been providing quality railcars and services to its customers for more than 121 years. GATX has been headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, since its founding in 1898. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.gatx.com.

TELECONFERENCE INFORMATION
GATX Corporation will host a teleconference to discuss 2019 fourth-quarter and full-year results. Call details are as follows:

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020
11 a.m. Eastern Time
Domestic Dial-In: 1-800-367-2403
International Dial-In: 1-334-777-6978
Replay: 1-888-203-1112 or 1-719-457-0820 /Access Code: 5963145

Call-in details, a copy of this press release and real-time audio access are available at www.gatx.com. Please access the call 15 minutes prior to the start time. Following the call, a replay will be available on the same site.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements in this Earnings Release not based on historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, accordingly, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and could cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those discussed. These include statements as to our future expectations, beliefs, plans, strategies, objectives, events, conditions, financial performance, prospects, or future events. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “outlook,” “continue,” “likely,” “will,” “would”, and similar words and phrases. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, and are not guarantees of future performance. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements.

The following factors, in addition to those discussed in our other filings with the SEC, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations expressed in forward-looking statements:

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
GATX Corporation
Shari Hellerman
Director, Investor Relations
GATX Corporation
312-621-4285
[email protected]

Investor, corporate, financial, historical financial, and news release information may be found at www.gatx.com.

(1/23/2020)

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (UNAUDITED)
(In millions, except per share data)

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)
(In millions)

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
SEGMENT DATA (UNAUDITED)
Three Months Ended December 31, 2019
(In millions)

(1) Includes scrapping gains.

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
SEGMENT DATA (UNAUDITED)
Three Months Ended December 31, 2018
(In millions)

(1) Includes scrapping gains.

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
SEGMENT DATA (UNAUDITED)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2019
(In millions)

(1) Includes scrapping gains.

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
SEGMENT DATA (UNAUDITED)
Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2018
(In millions)

(1) Includes scrapping gains.

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)
(In millions, except per share data)

Impact of Tax Adjustments and Other Items on Net Income*

Impact of Tax Adjustments and Other Items on Diluted Earnings per Share*

Impact of Tax Adjustments and Other Items on Return on Equity*

_________
(1) Shareholders’ equity used in this calculation excludes the impact of the Tax Act.

(*) In addition to financial results reported in accordance with GAAP, we compute certain financial measures using non-GAAP components. Specifically, we exclude the effects of certain tax adjustments and other items for purposes of presenting net income, diluted earnings per share, and return on equity because we believe these items are not attributable to our business operations. Management utilizes net income, excluding tax adjustments and other items, when analyzing financial performance because such amounts reflect the underlying operating results that are within management’s ability to influence. Accordingly, we believe presenting this information provides investors and other users of our financial statements with meaningful supplemental information for purposes of analyzing year-to-year financial performance on a comparable basis and assessing trends.

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)
(In millions, except leverage)

 _________
(1) Under the new lease accounting standard, off-balance sheet recourse debt is no longer applicable beginning in 2019.
(2) Includes on- and off-balance sheet debt, commercial paper and bank credit facilities, and operating and finance lease obligations, net of unrestricted cash.
(3) Calculated as total recourse debt / shareholder’s equity.

(*) A portion of our North American railcar fleet is financed through sale-leasebacks that are accounted for as operating leases. Prior to 2019, these railcar assets were not recorded on the balance sheet. Under the new lease accounting standard adopted on January 1, 2019, GATX records these railcar operating leases on the balance sheet as right-of-use assets with corresponding amounts for operating lease liabilities. Prior to 2019, we reported total on- and off-balance sheet assets in our calculation of total assets (as adjusted) because we believed it provided investors a more comprehensive representation of the magnitude of the assets we operated and that drove our financial performance. In addition, this calculation of total assets (as adjusted) provided consistency with other non-financial information we disclosed about our fleet, including the number of railcars in the fleet, average number of cars on lease, and utilization. We also provide information regarding our leverage ratios, which are expressed as a ratio of debt (including off-balance sheet debt) to equity. The off-balance sheet debt amount in this calculation was the equivalent of the off-balance sheet asset amount. We believe reporting this corresponding off-balance sheet debt amount provided investors and other users of our financial statements with a more comprehensive representation of our debt obligations, leverage, and capital structure.

GATX CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION (UNAUDITED)
(Continued)

 _________
(1) GATX’s Lease Price Index (LPI) is an internally-generated business indicator that measures lease rate pricing on renewals for our North American railcar fleet, excluding boxcars. The index is calculated using the weighted average lease rate for a group of railcar types that GATX believes best represents its overall North American fleet, excluding boxcars. The average renewal lease rate change is reported as the percentage change between the average renewal lease rate and the average expiring lease rate, weighted by fleet composition. The average renewal lease term is reported in months and reflects the average renewal lease term of railcar types in the LPI, weighted by fleet composition.
(2) Excludes boxcar fleet.
(3) As reported and revised by the Federal Reserve.
(4) As reported by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).
(5) As reported by the Railway Supply Institute (RSI).
(6) Not available, not published as of the date of this release.