Copa (CPA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Motley Fool Transcribing, The Motley Fool Thu, May 14, 2026 at 11:12 PM GMT+7 26 min read CPA Image source: The Motley Fool. Chief Executive Officer — Pedro Heilbron Chief Financial Officer — Peter Donkersloot Ponce Pedro Heilbron: Thank you, Daniel. Good morning, and thank you all for joining us for our first quarter earnings call. Before we begin, I would like to recognize our more than 9 thousand coworkers commitment and professionalism continue to be key drivers of Copa s strong operational performance and leadership in our industry. Especially in today s higher and volatile jet fuel price environment, their consistent focus on execution and cost discipline has allowed us to enter the current fuel environment from a position of strength. To them, as always, my sincere appreciation and respect We delivered another quarter of strong financial and operational results. Reaffirming the strength and resilience of our business model and our ability to consistently deliver industry leading profitability. Our first quarter results reflect a strong demand environment across the region continued discipline in cost execution and our relentless focus on delivering operational excellence for our passengers. Now I will go over our first quarter highlights. Capacity increased 14% year over year, while passenger traffic increased 15%, resulting in a 0.8 percentage point increase in load factor to 87.2%. Passenger yield increased 1.6% year over year RASM came in at 11.8¢, 2.7% higher compared to Q1 2025. Unit cost per CASM increased 1.6% to 8.9¢ driven by higher fuel prices. CASM, excluding fuel, declined 1% to 5.8¢ reflecting our continued cost discipline. And we delivered an industry leading operating margin of 24.6%, 0.8 percentage points higher than Q1 of last year. On the operational side, we delivered an on time performance for the quarter of 91.6%, and a flight completion factor of 99.7% once again, positioning Copa among the very best in the industry. Turning to our network. We have resumed service to Valencia and Barquesimeto and have scheduled a restart of Barcelona in June. Together with our existing service to Maracaibo and Caracas, this returns us to serving 5 cities in Venezuela, from our hub of The Americas in Panama. With these additions, we will operate to 87 destinations in 32 countries. Further strengthening our position at the most complete and convenient connecting hub for travel, in The Americas. With regard to our fleet, during the quarter, we took delivery of 2 Boeing 37 MAX 8 ending Q1 with 127 aircraft. We have already received 2 additional MAX 8s in the second quarter, bringing our fleet total to 121 aircraft. Additionally, in April, we announced a new Boeing 37 MAX order for 40 firm aircraft and 20 options. With delivery schedules between 2030 and 2034. This new order which begins as we complete deliveries from our existing order book in 2029 reinforces our long term growth strategy and ensures Copa s Hub of the Americas continues to lead well into the next decade. As always, we maintain significant flexibility in our fleet plan. Thanks to options, flight rights, lease expirations, and unencumbered aircraft, which provide us the ability to adjust our growth plan if needed. Turning now to the current environment of higher and volatile jet fuel prices. Throughout our history, we have navigated periods of increased fuel prices and volatility, consistently delivering strong financial results supported by the effectiveness of our business model, low cost, and disciplined execution. I feel confident that we will demonstrate this once again. To summarize, we delivered strong industry leading profitability in the quarter, We continued to improve our already competitive cost structure. We keep delivering best in class on time performance and reliability. We continue expanding and strengthening our network the most convenient hub for intra-America travel. The current demand environment remains strong, supporting yield increases. And our proven business model built on having the best geographic positions structurally low unit cost, a strong balance sheet and liquidity position, and a superior passenger friendly product, positions us well to navigate the higher jet fuel product environment And, again, in 2026, deliver strong and industry leading financial results. With that, I will turn the call over to Peter, who will walk us through the financials in more detail. Peter Donkersloot Ponce: Thank you, Pedro. Morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today. I would like to start by reinforcing Pedro s recognition of our team s continued dedication to delivering industry leading results. Their commitment remains essential to our strong operational and financial performance. Let me begin by going over our first quarter highlights. We reported a record net profit of $212 million or $5.16 per share, representing a 20.5% year-over-year increase in earnings per share. Net margin came in at 20

Copa (CPA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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Copa (CPA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

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