The parent company of ABX Air Inc. told investors Thursday it has the liquidity to meet its debt terms even if a possible deal between DHL Express U.S. and UPS takes a large chunk of its business.
The statement, from Wilmington-based Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NYSE:ATSG), comes about a week after DHL's parent, Deutsche Post World Net, announced it was pursuing a contract with UPS to handle all of its North American air shipping.
DHL's main North American sorting center is operated in Wilmington under a contract with ABX. The cargo airline in the past three years took in an average 95 percent of its revenue from DHL.
"Our preliminary view based upon what we know at this time, which we have shared with our principal creditors, is that our financial strength, marketable asset base and projected cash flow should allow us to remain in compliance with our financial covenants and required debt amortization under our credit agreement for the remainder of their terms," CEO Joe Hete said in a statement.
DHL has said a 10-year deal with UPS could begin this year, and the company notified ABX that in the third quarter it plans to remove from its U.S. network 39 of the 55 aircraft that ABX has dedicated to the courier.
Without a DHL-ABX accord, the state could see the direct loss of 8,200 jobs.
State officials are forming a task force to try to retain the Wilmington hub or find ways to handle the job losses if it closes.
Air Transport operates a fleet of 135 aircraft at 14 U.S. hubs. The company in 2007 recorded profit of $19.6 million on $1.17 billion in revenue.
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/06/02/daily32.html?ana=from_rss
The statement, from Wilmington-based Air Transport Services Group Inc. (NYSE:ATSG), comes about a week after DHL's parent, Deutsche Post World Net, announced it was pursuing a contract with UPS to handle all of its North American air shipping.
DHL's main North American sorting center is operated in Wilmington under a contract with ABX. The cargo airline in the past three years took in an average 95 percent of its revenue from DHL.
"Our preliminary view based upon what we know at this time, which we have shared with our principal creditors, is that our financial strength, marketable asset base and projected cash flow should allow us to remain in compliance with our financial covenants and required debt amortization under our credit agreement for the remainder of their terms," CEO Joe Hete said in a statement.
DHL has said a 10-year deal with UPS could begin this year, and the company notified ABX that in the third quarter it plans to remove from its U.S. network 39 of the 55 aircraft that ABX has dedicated to the courier.
Without a DHL-ABX accord, the state could see the direct loss of 8,200 jobs.
State officials are forming a task force to try to retain the Wilmington hub or find ways to handle the job losses if it closes.
Air Transport operates a fleet of 135 aircraft at 14 U.S. hubs. The company in 2007 recorded profit of $19.6 million on $1.17 billion in revenue.
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/06/02/daily32.html?ana=from_rss
