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Alliance Aviation Services' share price target increased 40% by Blue Ocean Equities

Published: 03:24 12 Feb 2018 GMT

Picture of the inside of an aircraft
The 18% increase in underlying earnings was ahead of broker expectations

Alliance Aviation Services Ltd (ASX:AQZ) has caught the attention of analyst Stuart Turner from Blue Ocean Equities after delivering strong first half underlying earnings growth.

The provider of air charter services’ 18% increase in underlying earnings to $27.5 million was ahead of Turner’s expectations of $25.3 million.

This was one of the factors that prompted him to increase his 12-month share price target from $1.66 to $2.36.

Reinstatement of dividend reaffirms confident outlook

Turner is of the view that the re-instated interim dividend of $0.025 per share signals Alliance’s confidence in its outlook.

The company recently extended contracts with blue-chip mining companies such as Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE:NEM) and Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN).

READ: Alliance Aviation Services extends contract with Newmont Mining until 2021

While the Alliance generates a substantial proportion of revenue from the mining sector it also services the tourism industry and government bodies.

Expansion via acquisition of Austrian Airlines

Turner believes that now the company has completed the acquisition of Austrian Airlines’ fleet there is scope for sustained growth.

Alliance currently has 31 aircraft in its operational fleet and this is expected to grow to 33 by June 30, with an additional 12 aircraft ready to deploy as demand increases.

Turner is forecasting Alliance to generate underlying earnings of $59 million from operating revenues of $230 million for the full year.

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