UAL Q4 2022 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: United Airlines Holdings, Inc. Q4 2022 Earnings Call
• Date: January 18, 2023 at 2:30 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Scott Kirby (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Jolene Quist (Chief Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer)
  • Toby Enqvist (Chief Operations Officer)
  • Andrew Nocella (Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer)
  • Jerry Laderman (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer)
  • Kristina Munoz (Director of Investor Relations)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Adjusted pre-tax income for Q4 2022 was $1.1B on a non-GAAP basis.
• United achieved a 9% adjusted pre-tax margin in the second half of 2022.
• TRASM for Q4 2022 finished up 25.8% versus Q4 2019 and PRASM finished up 24.6% versus Q4 2019 on 9.5% less capacity.
• Full-year 2022 TRASM was up 19.5% versus 2019 and outperformed network competitors by about three percentage points over the same period.
• Liquidity at year-end 2022 was $18B and adjusted net debt was reduced by $3.3B versus year-end 2021.
• United reported improved CASM-X in the second half of 2022 and expects CASM-X to be about flat for full-year 2023 versus 2022.
• The company expects adjusted free cash flow to be positive for full-year 2023 under the stated capacity, revenue, and cost assumptions.

Guidance

• First quarter 2023 TRASM is expected to be up approximately 25% year-over-year.
• First quarter 2023 adjusted pre-tax margin is expected to be around 3% using the January 10th fuel forward curve.
• First quarter 2023 adjusted diluted EPS is expected to be between $0.50 and $1.00.
• Full-year 2023 adjusted pre-tax margin target remains 9% with adjusted diluted EPS expected between $10 and $12.
• First quarter 2023 CASM-X is expected to be down between 3% and 4% with capacity up 20% versus Q1 2022.
• Full-year 2023 capacity is expected to be up in the high teens versus 2022 and the full-year CASM-X outlook includes about 4.5 points of CASM-X from expected new labor increases, excluding any signing bonuses.