DAE Revenue Rises 13% to $1.45 Billion in Nine Months After Macquarie AirFinance Deal

Profit before tax and exceptional items rose to $370.7 million from $340.8 million, DAE said in its results announcement on Tuesday. Profitability measures weakened. The adjusted pre-tax margin narrowed to 25.6% from 26.7%, adjusted pre-tax return on equity fell to 11.8% from 13.6%, and operating cash flow dipped to $1,088.1 million from $1,127.4 million. The announcement did not give a net profit figure.

The acquisition reshaped the balance sheet. Total assets reached $26.83 billion at September 30, up from $16.55 billion at the end of 2025, and net loans and borrowings rose to $16.75 billion from $10.23 billion. Available liquidity grew to $5.60 billion from $3.40 billion, and the liquidity coverage ratio rose to 440% from 277%. Net debt to equity edged up to 2.60 times from 2.58 times, and unsecured debt made up 88.3% of the total, against 87.8% at the end of last year.

Chief executive Firoz Tarapore said the deal had doubled DAE's combined owned, managed and committed fleet to about 1,000 aircraft within 24 months. The announcement put the exact figure at 983. "Our Owned Fleet count of 716 aircraft makes us the second largest aircraft lessor globally," Tarapore said. When the deal closed in July, Gulf News described DAE as the world's third-largest lessor. Tarapore's ranking counts owned aircraft only.

Tarapore said the MAF acquisition, together with previously announced mandates from Blackstone and Neuberger, would let DAE offer airlines a broader set of services and widen its dealings with suppliers. "Successfully executing our mandates puts us on a trajectory to reach a combined fleet count of approximately 1,300 aircraft," he said. He added that the company's liquidity and capital adequacy remained robust after the deal closed.

In the nine months, DAE acquired 290 aircraft, including the MAF portfolio, of which 272 are owned and 18 managed. It sold 58 aircraft, 48 owned and 10 managed. It signed 195 lease agreements, extensions and amendments, and announced purchase-leaseback deals with Saudia for four Boeing 777F freighters.

DAE Engineering, the company's maintenance business, booked about 900,000 man hours and carried out more than 170 checks. Tarapore said the division's revenue "remains below our target as a consequence of persistent airspace closures", many of which are still in place.

He said the integration of MAF is functionally complete and on track to be fully finished by the end of November 2026. He described the outlook for the northern hemisphere winter season as positive and the pipeline of expected aircraft deliveries as robust.