Delta Air Lines Amends Credit Card Processing Agreement
Wednesday June 13, 8:00 am ET
Eliminates holdback, increasing unrestricted cash by approximately $800 million
ATLANTA, June 13, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE
AL - News) announced today it has amended its Visa/MasterCard processing agreement to eliminate the $1.1 billion holdback previously required. This holdback consisted of an $800 million cash reserve and a related $300 million letter of credit. Pursuant to the amendment, the entire amount of the cash reserve was returned to Delta and the letter of credit was terminated. No future holdback or cash reserve is required except in limited circumstances. As a result of these changes, Delta expects to end the quarter with $4.2 billion in liquidity, including a fully available, $1 billion revolving line of credit.
``This new agreement reflects the strong confidence of the financial markets in our ability to deliver on our plan's commitments,'' said Edward H. Bastian, Delta's executive vice president and chief financial officer.
The company also updated its June 2007 quarter guidance today, stating that it expects to achieve operating margins of 11 percent to 12 percent(a). The company affirmed its previous capacity guidance issued in April 2007, which showed consolidated domestic capacity reductions of 4 percent to 6 percent, with an associated increase in international capacity of 14 percent to 16 percent, compared to the June 2006 quarter.
``Our plan remains on track, with our restructuring driving improvements to both unit revenues and unit costs,'' Bastian continued. ``In this highly competitive industry, Delta is uniquely positioned in its ability to reallocate existing assets to right-size the domestic network and focus on international growth opportunities.''
Delta also filed today a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission that provides additional information about the amendment to the credit card processing agreement and the June 2007 quarter guidance.
Wednesday June 13, 8:00 am ET
Eliminates holdback, increasing unrestricted cash by approximately $800 million
ATLANTA, June 13, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE
``This new agreement reflects the strong confidence of the financial markets in our ability to deliver on our plan's commitments,'' said Edward H. Bastian, Delta's executive vice president and chief financial officer.
The company also updated its June 2007 quarter guidance today, stating that it expects to achieve operating margins of 11 percent to 12 percent(a). The company affirmed its previous capacity guidance issued in April 2007, which showed consolidated domestic capacity reductions of 4 percent to 6 percent, with an associated increase in international capacity of 14 percent to 16 percent, compared to the June 2006 quarter.
``Our plan remains on track, with our restructuring driving improvements to both unit revenues and unit costs,'' Bastian continued. ``In this highly competitive industry, Delta is uniquely positioned in its ability to reallocate existing assets to right-size the domestic network and focus on international growth opportunities.''
Delta also filed today a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission that provides additional information about the amendment to the credit card processing agreement and the June 2007 quarter guidance.