Gama Aviation Ltd was established in 1983 by Marwan Khalek and Stephen Wright at Fairoaks Airport, initially providing aircraft charter services with one Beech Baron aircraft.

In 1984 GAL obtained its first AOC and commenced offering business aircraft management services with one aircraft under management in 1988. In 1991 the company commenced working with the Scottish Ambulance Service through Bond Aviation Limited to provide fixed and rotary aircraft. In 1997, GAL acquired Bond Aviation Limited business from Bond Helicopters Group as well as Heathrow Jet Charter, a charter brokerage business. Having established a core platform during the 1990s, GAL focused on expanding its UK aircraft maintenance and service business with the acquisition of Plymouth Executive Aviation in 2001, which provided maintenance capabilities. This was further enhanced by the acquisition of Lees Avionics in 2008, which enabled Gama Group to provide a range of design and installation capabilities.

In 2008 Gama Group acquired Airops Software, a software consultancy and developer of aviation productivity software and PrivatAir Inc (now Gama Aviation LLC), based in Connecticut, USA, which provided Gama Group with a meaningful presence in the United States, the largest business aircraft market in the world. Full FAA maintenance approval was granted in the USA in 2011. The Group opened a number of other bases as part of its international expansion, including in the UAE which offers aircraft management, charter, maintenance and FBO services. Gama Aviation FZ-LLC was awarded an AOC in the UAE in 2010.

Further acquisitions were undertaken in 2011 (trade and assets of Mann Aviation Group Engineering) and 2012 (Ronaldson Airmotive Limited) which expanded Gama Aviation’s engineering and support capabilities. New bases were opened at Sharjah Airport, UAE, and Hong Kong.

On the 8th December 2014, Gama Aviation announced a merger (technically a reverse takeover) with Hangar 8 Plc, creating a company with an estimated market capitalization of £130 million. The deal is due to complete on 6th January 2015, with Gama Aviation Plc becoming the new listed stock.


http://www.gamaaviation.com/


Previous Hangar8 thread

http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=17094#lastread

Interim results

19 Sep
Cantor...
200.00
Hold

European Maintenance Agreement

RNS


RNS Number : 5266V

Gama Aviation PLC

31 January 2017




Press release

WIJET signs European maintenance agreement with Gama Aviation.

Farnborough, 31st January 2017. Gama Aviation Plc's (AIM:GMAA), European Ground division is pleased to announce the signature of a Europe-wide maintenance agreement with WIJET, which recently acquired Blink.

From its Oxford (UK) base, Gama Aviation will provide full base and line maintenance support for WIJET's fleet of fifteen Cessna Citation Mustangs, in addition to providing AOG support across Europe to ensure aircraft availability. The first Mustang has already arrived at Oxford to begin routine checks; the other fourteen are due by the end of April.



Pat Marchant, Head of Maintenance, WIJET comments: "Our business is reliant on maintaining aircraft availability. Gama Aviation has a long history of providing mission critical support to fleets around the world and as such is an ideal partner to provide maintenance support across Europe."



The contract award comes at a time of growth for Gama Aviation's Oxford base. Within the last six months, the base has added considerably to its EASA and FAA maintenance approvals, and it now supports the Citation Mustang (the aircraft operated by Wijet) as well as the 560 XLS, King Air 90-300 series, Learjet 45 and Premier 1, and larger aircraft such as Bombardier's Global, Challenger and Embraer's Legacy series.



Marwan Khalek, Group Chief Executive, Gama Aviation Plc comments: "Following the National Police Air Service ("NPAS") contract win, the European Ground business has continued its strong start to the year. This deal demonstrates the scale, breadth and depth of our Ground offer; its benefit to clients who value mission critical support and our ability to grow our business organically worldwide."

Full results

Financial Highlights
·      Record Total Group revenues of $432.4m, up 12.6% (2015: $383.9m)
·      Underlying profit before tax of $13.7m, up 3.8% (2015: $13.2m)
·      Net debt of $19.4m (2015: $9.0m) reflecting acquisitions and Aberdeen hangar development
·      Cash generation from operations improved to an inflow of $2.2m compared to an outflow of $14.1m in 2015
·      Dividend per share up 4% to 2.6p per share (2015: 2.5p)
·      2017 trading in line with management expectations


Operational Highlights
·      Aircraft under management up 12.2% to 165 (2015: 147)
·      US Air revenue up 30% driven by contract wins
·      Transformative deal signed on 1 January 2017 with BBA Aviation Plc in the US Air division  
·      Europe Air revenue down 5% due to exiting underperforming contracts
·      Europe Air restructuring successfully completed 
·      US Ground revenue up 15% driven by 3 new line maintenance bases
·      Europe Ground revenue down 20% due to lower levels of discretionary spend 
·      Europe Ground delivered 20% operating margin despite challenging market
·      Acquisitions fully integrated into the Air and Ground divisions in Europe
·      Recent multi-year contract wins in the Air and Ground divisions in Europe
·      Strong progress establishing Middle East and Asia platforms
·      Simplified corporate structure and strengthened management team  

ST of IC today - I feel that a return to growth this year should deliver further upside and so have upgraded my target price to 250p. Buy.

08:40 11/04/2017
Broker Forecast - Cantor Fitzgerald issues a broker note on Gama Aviation Plc
Cantor Fitzgerald today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Gama Aviation Plc (LON:GMAA) and raised its price target to 270p (from 230p). Story provided by StockMarketWire.com

ST of IC - I am upgrading my target price to a range between 275p and 300p to reflect the operational improvements being made and de-risking of earnings estimates. Buy.y -

8 Nov
Jefferies...
330.00
Buy

Admission of Placing Shares to Trading on AIM
Gama Aviation Plc ("Gama Aviation" or the "Company"), the global business aviation services provider, is pleased to announce the Admission of 19,591,837 new ordinary shares of one pence each in the Company to trading on AIM at 8:00am today. Accordingly, the Company has successfully raised gross proceeds of £48 million pursuant to the Placing. The gross proceeds of the Placing will be used to accelerate the group's strategy of becoming the leading global business aviation services group.

Following the Placing, the Company's Enlarged Issued Share Capital will comprise 63,611,279 Ordinary Shares. No Ordinary Shares are held in treasury. Accordingly, this figure of 63,611,279 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the AIM Rules for Companies or the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Further to Admission occurring, Mr Simon To has also become a director of the Company with effect from Admission pursuant to the terms of the Relationship Agreement entered into with Hutchison Whampoa (China) Limited on 9 February 2018.