Aircastle of the Flying High with solid figures (Motley Fool)

Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR - News), a global company which rents and sells commercial jet aircraft, its quarterly results said a few weeks ago. Strong financial health of the company is well reflected in its quarterly figures. Discuss the issues of Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor, to see if Aircastle is really ready to take flight.

Numbers we give a direction
Total revenue for the company increased by 157.9 million $ 130.5 million of dollars in the first quarter of 2010, a gain of about 21%. This was mainly due to an increase of revenue from rental and leasing services. As a result, net income increased 125% $ 42.7 million to 18.1 million in the quarter year - ago. While this is a considerable leap, is only half the story, and we need to learn more.

Dig deeper
It is always important to check how much profit Aircastle generates money from shareholders - it is to say, how effectively that it operates. Return on own capital gives a clear idea on precisely this.

Aircastle's ROE of 5.8% in the first quarter of 2010 increased to 12.5% this quarter. This is a big leap. Its ROE is much better than his peers Atlas Air worldwide (Nasdaq: AAWW - News), whose ROE amounts to a mere 4% for the same period. It is good enough number to hold the attention of the shareholders. Indeed, Aircastle makes good use of the money of its investors.

Margin of net income of the most recent quarter for Aircastle almost doubled to 26.5% to 13.9% in the quarter last year. Also, it's better than Atlas Air in the world and Aercap (NYSE: AER - News) net margin of income by 3.5% and 19.9%, respectively. It shows how effectively Aircastle is capable of transforming its additional revenues from income from its rivals. It would be preferable to retain this stock until plan rivals of something better.

Foolish bottom line
Volume of air traffic should increase globally as economies recover from the economic crisis. According to the Air Transport Association International, demand for passenger and cargo traffic increased by 5.9% and 4.6%, respectively, in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year.

Aircastle has a fleet of 134 aircraft base, and those, 92% are last generation aircraft. This reduces the possibility of greater wear and high maintenance costs. It has a fleet utilization rate "weighted average" 99% in the first quarter of 2011. This efficiency give a good advantage to service the growing demand for passenger and freight traffic in the future.

Bibhudutta Subhasish is not owner of the shares of any of the companies mentioned in this article. Try our services Foolish newsletter free of charge for 30 days. Us Fools can not all hold the same views, but we believe that treat a wide range of ideas makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.