Triton International Limited (TRTN) Tops Q3 EPS by 8c, Revenues Miss

Triton International Limited (NYSE: TRTN) reported Q3 EPS of $1.14, $0.08 better than the analyst estimate of $1.06. Revenue for the quarter came in at $327.8 million versus the consensus estimate of $335.3 million.

Highlights:

• Net income attributable to common shareholders for the three months ended September 30, 2020 was $45.9 million or $0.67 per diluted share, which includes a $24.3 million write off of unamortized debt and other costs related to the prepayment of ABS notes and other facilities and $8.6 million non-cash tax expense related to an intra-entity transfer of assets.
• Adjusted net income was $78.1 million or $1.14 per diluted share, an increase of 32.6% from the second quarter of 2020.
• Trade volumes and container demand jumped in the third quarter. Utilization increased 2.6% during the quarter to reach 97.4% as of September 30, 2020. Utilization was 97.6% as of October 16, 2020.
• Triton issued $2.3 billion of ABS notes during the third quarter at an average interest rate of 2.2%. Most of the proceeds were used to prepay $1.8 billion of higher cost notes, which is expected to reduce interest expense by more than $25 million over the next year.
• Triton\'s Board of Directors announced a nearly 10% increase in its quarterly common share dividend to $0.57 per share payable on December 23, 2020 to shareholders of record as of December 10, 2020.

Operating Performance

"Triton took advantage of a strong upward inflection in container demand during the third quarter to drive a significant increase in our performance," commented Brian Sondey, Chief Executive Officer of Triton. "We generated $1.14 of Adjusted earnings per share in the third quarter of 2020, an increase of 32.6% from the second quarter, and we realized an annualized Return on equity of 15.8%."

"Global containerized trade volumes rebounded sharply in the third quarter as lockdowns in Europe and the United States eased, and container export volumes from key ports in China currently exceed pre-pandemic levels. The pace and magnitude of the trade recovery have generally exceeded our customers’ expectations, and virtually all of the major shipping lines have needed to add significant container capacity. We leveraged our market leading container supply capability to provide rapid and sizable container solutions for our customers, and we generated a record number of container bookings in the third quarter. Our team demonstrated remarkable agility in quickly responding to this surge in activity, and we are very proud to be playing an important role helping our customers keep the global supply chain functioning at this critical time. Our utilization increased 2.6% during the quarter to reach 97.4% as of September 30, 2020, and we have committed over 500,000 TEU of new containers onto attractive long-term leases. The strong demand has also led to increased container prices. As of October 16, 2020, container factories are quoting roughly $2,500 for a 20\' dry container. We are also benefiting from increased sale prices for used container disposals and higher disposal gains."

"While we are very pleased with the improvement in market conditions and our performance in the third quarter, it is important to note that Triton\'s performance remained solid throughout 2019 and the first half of 2020 despite macro headwinds from the U.S./China trade dispute and COVID-19 lockdowns. Our annualized Return on equity averaged 14.0% for the four quarters ended June 30, 2020, and our utilization averaged 95.8%. The resilience of our business through difficult conditions reflects the strength of our long-term lease portfolio, the rapid adjustment of container supply and demand due to the short order cycle for containers, and the many advantages Triton enjoys as the scale, cost and capability leader in our industry. In addition, our customers\' financial performance held up much better than expected in the first half of the year through the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, and our customers generally expect strong profitability in the second half of the year due to the sharp rebound in trade volumes that has led to a significant increase in freight rates."

"We have purchased approximately $800 million of new and sale-leaseback containers for delivery in 2020, which is below our target level. We accelerated container purchases during the third quarter, but our ability to quickly order large numbers of containers was constrained by tight container manufacturing capacity. We have also ordered approximately $350 million of containers for delivery in the first few months of 2021."

"We continue to strengthen our balance sheet. We issued $2.3 billion of ABS notes during the third quarter with an average fixed interest rate of 2.2%, and used most of the proceeds to prepay $1.8 billion of existing ABS notes with an average fixed interest rate of 3.8%. We closed the prepayment of the existing ABS notes on September 21, 2020, and we expect over $25 million of interest expense savings over the next year. In addition, our leverage remains near an all-time low and our liquidity position is excellent. The combination of our strong balance sheet and stable cash flows provides great protection for Triton and gives us many levers to drive shareholder value through a full range of market conditions."

Outlook

Mr. Sondey continued, "Container demand remains exceptionally strong as we start the fourth quarter. Our customers expect trade volumes to remain solid despite the end of the traditional summer peak season for dry containers. Customers are projecting meaningful container shortages into at least early next year, and they continue to rely heavily on leasing. We will benefit from a full quarter of revenue on the large number of containers picked up in the third quarter, and new containers produced in the fourth quarter should be picked up quickly. We will also benefit from a full period of reduced interest expense from our ABS refinancing. Overall, we expect our Adjusted earnings per share to increase in the range of 25% from the third to the fourth quarter of 2020."

"Looking forward to next year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to create a high level of macro uncertainty for the global economy and trade. However, the vast majority of the containers leased-out over the last few months have been placed on multi-year leases, and the very low inventory of new and used containers available in the market should further support our utilization. In addition, the interest expense reduction from our ABS refinancing will benefit us into 2021 and beyond. As a result, we expect to achieve strong profitability and an attractive Return on equity in 2021."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Triton International Limited (TRTN) click here.

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