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FY2014 Annual Report · Airbus
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Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014

Making it happen...

Air Partner is a world leading air  
charter company providing private jets, 
commercial airliners and air freight  
services anywhere in the world since 1961.

Our global network of 20 offices spans 
Europe, North America, the Middle East  
and Asia, and we operate a full 24-hour  
flight operations centre giving clients instant 
access to air charter services all year round.

Through our four business divisions  
we are able to respond immediately  
to the most demanding of aircraft  
charter requirements.

Contents

01  Financial highlights
02  Group at a glance
06  Strategic report
06  Chairman’s statement
08  Chief Executive’s review
12  Chief Financial Officer’s review
13  Business model
14  Principal risk and uncertainties 
16  Key performance indicators
18  Corporate social responsibility
20  Going concern basis
22  Board of Directors
24  Leadership Team
26  Directors’ report
36  Directors’ remuneration report
54  Unaudited pro-forma information 
58  Notes to the unaudited  
pro-forma information 
Independent Auditors’ report

65 
67  Financial statements
73  Notes to the financial statements

Our business divisions

Charter of  
large aircraft 
(20+ seats) for 
governments, 
industrial and 
commercial  
clients and  
tour operators

An in-house  
travel agency, 
the Emergency 
Planning Division 
and Ops24 provide 
additional services 
to support clients 
and operators

Commercial  
Jet Broking

Private Jet 
Broking

Support 
Services

Freight 
Broking

Charter of  
smaller aircraft 
(19 seats 
or fewer) 
for groups, 
individuals, 
air ambulance 
services and 
for roadshows

Charter of  
cargo transport 
including 
emergency  
aid drops and  
a Time Critical  
door to door 
freight delivery 
service

 
 
Financial highlights

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

01

Highlights for the year ended 
31 January 2014

Revenue  
£m 

Underlying profit 
before tax  £m

Profit before tax   
£m

Cash   
£m

Revenue up by 

7%

UK Revenue up by 

1%

USA Revenue up by 

63%

Europe Revenue up by 

3%

Underlying PBT up by 

28%

Commercial Jet Division  
revenue up by 

14%  

Strong Tour Operating  
business mitigating reduced 
government spending

Private Jet Division  
revenue up by 

21%

Freight Division showing signs  
of improvement

Group Remains debt free

£224m

£4.3m

£2.8m £18.4m*

0
.
4
2
2

2
.
9
0
2

3
.
4

3
.
3

2
.
3

8
.
2

*
4
.
8
1

*
3
.
7
1

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

Underlying basic EPS  
pence

Basic EPS  
pence

Dividends for 12 
month period pence 

29.8 p

19.2 p

28 p

.

8
9
2

9
.
1
2

4
.
2
2

2
.
9
1

.

0
8
2

.

8
8
1

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

*  JetCard cash 2014 £8.8m – 

2013 *£8.6m

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Commercial Jets

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

02

Charter of larger aircraft  
(20+ seats) for governments, 
industrial and commercial 
clients and tour operators

In the world of commercial airliner 
charter, success depends on 
experience, expertise and a  
reputation built over decades.  
Air Partner’s Commercial Jets team 
offers logistical excellence, value for 
money and dependability. 

Over the last five decades  
and continuing into our sixth,  
Air Partner have devised and  
executed many of the most complex 
flights in civil aviation, but we also 
complete hundreds of routine, 
individually tailored chartered  
flights every week.

% of Group revenue

2014 

2013 

66.4%

£148.7m

62.4%

£130.7m

Number of passengers  
flown by Tour ops

354,500

Dedicated aircraft chartered  
by Air Partner

4.5 aircraft

Reasons for Tour ops flying

Destinations flown to

Winter and Summer 
vacation destinations

378

Most remote destinations
Venezuela,  
South Sudan, Libya, 
Kruger National Park

Tour ops destinations

Greece

Cyprus

Turkey

Morocco

France (Alps)

Egypt

Reasons for flying

Football teams attending matches

Corporate shuttle flights

Wedding parties to India

Group musical events

Sports events

Senior executive meetings

Product launches

Flying high to view comets and polar lights

Company incentive trips

Private Jets

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

03

Charter of smaller aircraft  
(19 seats or fewer) for groups, 
individuals, air ambulance 
service and roadshows

As one of the world’s largest  
suppliers of aircraft charter in the world, 
Air Partner has the resources, experience 
and expertise to customise solutions  
to our clients every aviation need.  
We provide the entire spectrum of 
private aviation products. This makes  
us the natural partner whether our 
clients needs are for occasional private 
jet charter, the pre-purchase simplicity  
of JetCard or private jet ownership.

A dedicated team of account  
managers is on call around the clock, 
ready to respond to any change in 
requirements and ensure our clients 
experience the highest level of comfort 
and security alongside our first-class 
service with all private jet flights.

% of Group revenue

Hours flown (booked by Air Partner)

Number of Jets chartered 

2014 

2013 

25.0%

£55.9m

22.2%

£46.4m

16,693 hours

Most remote destinations
Soloman Islands,  
Alaska, Bora Bora, 
Galapagos Islands

4,094

Number of people  
flown by us

5,246

Aircraft type most chartered (UK)

Why people flew with us

Citation XLS

Business meetings

Corporate conventions

Government trade missions

Industry conferences/exhibitions

Family weekend breaks

Significant life event celebration

Medical emergencies

Commuting between homes

World events we flew clients to
Sochi Winter Olympics,  
F1 Grand Prix races, G8 
Summits, World Economic 
Forum, Maastrict Art Fair, 
Turkish Open (golf),  
key football matches

Freight

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

04

Charter of cargo transport  
including emergency aid drops  
and a Time Critical door to door 
freight delivery service

Air Partner’s Freight team delivers 
tailored air services to meet the most 
demanding schedules at the best 
possible rates, reliably. Air cargo  
charter places our clients in control  
of their shipments, timing and security.  
Air Partner provides an aircraft for every 
need – from a light cabin Learjet to the 
giant Antonov 225 freighter. 

Air Partner has quick access to the  
latest data on aircraft capabilities  
and airfield infrastructure, even in the 
most remote areas. Combining this  
with up-to-the-minute information  
and our years of in-house expertise,  
we plan the task to save clients  
money as well as time. 

% of Group revenue

Number of flights we flew

2014 

2013 

5.2%

£11.7m

7.6%

£15.9m

922

Different kinds of aircraft chartered

Most remote destinations

Destinations flown to

104

Sochi, Djibouti,  
Bahrain, Izmir, Cebu

395

Major world events supported in 2013

Number of on-board courier flights

Strangest and most unusual cargo

50

Flights made in 2013

Artwork collection

Sochi mascots

Chickens

TV equipment for winter olympics

Large main Deck Loader

Bobsleighs and other winter sport gear

Aerospace equipment

Phillipines flood relief, 
Sochi,

588

Support Services

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

05

Charter of cargo transport  
including emergency aid drops  
and a Time Critical door to door 
freight delivery service

Our 24 hour Operations division  
provides a complete outsourced  
flight operations service for passenger 
and freight flights worldwide as well  
as replacement aircraft when 
maintenance, crew shortages or 
logistical problems threaten to  
disrupt the scheduled timetable.  

The provision of diversionary fuel to 
major international airlines is handled  
by our experienced team. The planning, 
management and execution of air 
evacuations for companies and 
governments worldwide is the remit  
of our Emergency Planning Division, 
whilst inbound, onward and ad hoc  
travel arrangements can be arranged 
through our in-house travel agency.

% of Group revenue

Most popular locations  
travel agency flew to

2014 

3.4%

2013 

£7.7m

7.8%

£16.3m

Largest number of scheduled  
flights booked for a single event

2,000 tickets

Planned readiness for evacuations 
for specific clients out of

Frankfurt, Las Vegas, 
Barcelona, Naples

Libya, South Sudan, South 
Korea, Ukraine, Venezuela

Number of major evacuations

Key event supported in 2013

Number of individuals evacuated

2

5,242

IMEX Exhibition, 
Frankfurt

During 2013 Air Partner changed its accounting reference date from  
31 July to 31 January. As a consequence the statutory results are in respect  
of the 18 month trading period from 1 August 2012 to 31 January 2014,  
with a 12 month comparative to 31 July 2012. To aid understanding pro forma  
results have also been provided for the 12 months to 31 January 2014  
with a 12 month comparative to 31 January 2013. The narrative to the results  
is based on the pro forma results with additional comments on the statutory  
results where it aids understanding.

Chairman’s statement 

Air Partner has performed strongly  
during the 12 months to 31 January 2014 
with turnover growing by 7% to £224m 
and underlying profit increasing by  
28% to £4.3m. Commercial Jet’s strong 
performance was led by significant 
growth in the tour operating sector and 
successful new business wins helped 
replace the on-going contraction  
in government work, leading to  
a 14% increase in revenue and a 38% 
increase in underlying profit before tax. 
Private Jet’s also performed well, 
particularly in the UK and the US,  
with revenues up by 21% and underlying 
profit before tax increasing by 36%.  
The Group remains cash generative  
and debt free. In the 12 month period, 
cash rose by £1.1m to £18.4m. £8.8m 
(2013: £8.6m) of cash is JetCard clients’ 
deposits, which are segregated and  
held on deposit. 

During the period, the Group undertook  
a fundamental review of its investment  
in new technology systems and, 
additionally moved the business to  
a product led structure. Unfortunately  
the technology review has resulted  
in a significant impairment of the IT 
investment and this, together with  
the restructuring and redundancy costs 
largely associated with the new product 
led structure has led to a charge of £1.4m 
to the income statement. After the impact 
of these non-trading items profit before 
tax was £2.8m (2013: £3.2m). 

The Group has made good progress 
against its stated strategy in the period 
under review. The strategy is focused on 
prioritising growth in the US, the Private 
Jet business in Europe and broking in the 
Oil & Gas and Tour Operating sectors.  
This is resulting in a good diversification  
of broking revenues with strong 
performances seen. In fact, it is pleasing 
to report that revenue in these areas grew 
by 91% to £91.4m. However, growth in the 
continental European private jet market 
remains challenging, reflecting the 
economic conditions in the region.  

Air Partner continues to evolve its  
people and systems, selectively investing 
in skills and initiatives that support the 
strategy and help create a long term 
competitive advantage. In the period 
under review, the Group has added to its 
senior management team, strengthened 
and re-energised the sales force in 
selected growth areas, reviewed and 
refined the Information Technology (IT) 
strategy, while finalising a successful 
transition to a product-led structure. 

Dividend
The Board remains confident in the 
Group’s long term prospects and is 
pleased to propose a final dividend  
of 14.0p per share, to be paid on  
16 June 2014, to shareholders on the 
register on 16 May 2014 (subject to 
shareholder approval at the General 
Meeting). Due to the change to the 
accounting reference date, the Group  
paid an increased interim dividend  
of 14.0p in October 2013, equivalent  
to the amount that would have been  
paid as a final dividend prior to the 
change of year-end. This brings the  
total dividend for the 18 months to 
January 2014 to 34.05p, 87% higher  
than the total dividend for the statutory  
12 month comparative period.

The business pays dividends subject to 
performance and typically they are split 
on the basis of one third interim payment 
and two thirds final payment. In future the 
board anticipates returning to a one-third 
and two third split and intends to continue 
the recent practice of growing the 
dividend by 10% per annum.

Board Changes
Shareholders will be aware of  
Tony Mack’s intention to retire from  
the Board at the forthcoming General 
Meeting. Under his initial leadership  
and subsequent guidance, Air Partner  
has become the successful business  
that it is today. The whole Company owes 
him a debt of gratitude and we wish him 
well for the future, while continuing to 
draw on his unique experience as  
Life President of the Company.

Elsewhere we have added to the  
Board and in September 2013 we 
welcomed Grahame Chilton as a  
Non-Executive Director. Grahame brings  
a wealth of global business experience, 
particularly in broking businesses.  

As previously announced, Gavin Charles 
will be leaving on 30 April. Neil Morris was 
appointed interim Chief Financial Officer 
on 1 April 2014 to allow for a transitional 
handover period. Neil was Air Partner’s 
Group Financial Controller, a position  
he held since July 2013. Before joining  
Air Partner, Neil was Group Finance 
Director of All Leisure Group PLC,  
the niche cruise and tour operator listed  
on AIM, and prior to that he spent 11 years 
at Deloitte LLP, primarily working in the 
aviation and travel sector. We continue  
to work with Odgers Berndtson, one of the 
UK’s pre-eminent executive search firms, 
to assist in the search process for a 
permanent Chief Financial Officer and will 
provide an update as soon as practical.

 
Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

07

Outlook
Current trading is in line with the  
Board’s expectations, and while  
the economic environment continues 
slowly to improve, our experience leads  
us to balance such optimism with  
a degree of conservatism in our outlook 
and planning. Our focus on areas of 
strategic importance continues to 
produce results, and we are confident  
that further improvements in IT, efficiency 
and productivity combined with the 
opportunities we are seeing across  
the business, will generate further gains. 
We are a well-funded group with a trusted 
brand and an enviable reputation.  
We have a clear strategy and a strong 
product offering with a depth of 
management experience that positions  
us well for the future.

Richard Everitt, Chairman
9 April 2014

Chief Executive’s review 

This is a strong performance  
with revenue growing by 7% and 
underlying profit before tax up 28%. 
However after the impact of the one-off, 
non-trading items, profit before tax  
was £2.8m (2013: £3.2m); please refer  
to the Chief Financial Officer’s Review  
for further details. Pleasingly on an 
underlying basis, profit before tax  
grew by 28% to £4.3m (2013: £3.3m). 
This reflected good trading in both 
Commercial Jets and Private Jets which 
have performed well and benefitted  
from the recent restructuring into 
product lines. Our close management  
of the areas of strategic focus (USA, 
Private Jets in Europe, Oil & Gas and  
Tour Operators) has continued to deliver 
excellent results, with revenue up across 
these areas by 91%. 

Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

09

Mark Briffa, CEO

This growth is significant for the  
business and marks excellent progress 
against the Group’s aim to further 
diversify its revenues and clients.

The Freight division, a small but 
important part of the Group, has started  
to show some signs of improvement. 
However, the results reflect a tough 
comparable period due to the conclusion 
of a large government contract and  
the on-going difficulties in the market. 
While revenues contracted, pleasingly 
underlying profit before tax remained 
unchanged due to the early management 
action on cost control.

The Group’s transition to a product led 
structure enabled synergies to be better 
captured, and has improved the ability  
to direct skills, expertise and knowledge 
across borders in an inclusive and 
integrated approach. The restructuring, 
announced in March 2013, has 
significantly contributed to the  
strong Private Jet and Commercial Jet 
performances in these results.  
The restructuring associated with 
delivering this change resulted in  
the need to make a number of roles 
redundant and the costs associated  
with this are included in the £646,000  
of restructuring and redundancy costs 
incurred in the period. 

Air Partner has historically 
underinvested in technology  
and as part of a step change in IT,  
Colin Jowers was appointed Global 
Director of Business Technology in 
January. Until recently, Colin was  
global Chief Operating Officer  
of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Global 
Banking and Markets Research  
and Strategy division.  He has also  
been involved in numerous broking 
service industry initiatives,  
focused on maximising technology  
and operational efficiencies.  
Colin’s appointment is a direct 
reflection of the Group’s desire  
to place technology at the heart  
of Air Partner’s offer, enabling the 
Group to better understand its 
customers, putting their needs first, 
while more accurately measuring 
performance against these aims.  
With that objective in mind I am 
pleased to announce the start of 
Project Connect, a multi-year global  
technology project, which will include  
the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics 
CRM across the business. 

The transition to a product led 
restructure required a strengthened 
senior management team, capable  
of developing business divisions in 
multiple territories and furthering  
growth across the company’s areas  
of strategic focus. Significant progress 
has been made on this front, and in 
August 2013 Paul Richardson was 
appointed as Director of Private Jets.  
Paul previously worked in the wealth 
management, sports and entertainment 
sectors, both at Coutts and Barclays 
Wealth and his experience and insight 
working with high net worth individuals  
is proving valuable.  

The revenue from Inclusive Tour 
Operating has increased by 200% 
against the prior period, with significant 
new contracts won. The team was further 
strengthened in September 2013 with 
the appointment of Alan Murray as 
Director of Inclusive Tour Programmes. 
Alan was previously MD and COO  
of Voyages of Discovery and Director  
of Monarch Airlines; his wide range  
of experience is already making a 
positive impact.

Marketing helps drive both the existing 
and new areas of strategic focus and last 
December Kiran Parmar joined as Global 
Director of Marketing.  Kiran previously 
held senior international marketing roles 
at Bentley Motors and Ford Motor 
Company, enabling him to understand 
both the luxury side of our Private Jets 
business and the Commercial Jets and 
Freight divisions too.  

This growth is significant for the business and marks excellent progress against the Group’s aim to further diversify its revenues and clients.““Chief Executive’s review continued

Colin’s deep knowledge and  
experience are already proving 
themselves and having reviewed  
the Group’s IT systems, he is  
already transforming the way  
we work. As part of his review,  
Colin recommended Air Partner  
continue with its planned CRM 
development, but discontinue the 
integrated broker and finance tools. 
Subsequently, the CRM element  
will go live this year, but the £774,000 
investment in the broker and finance  
tool will now not be utilised and has 
been fully impaired.  However, we are 
confident that the revised system,  
under Colin’s management and 
combined with the new systems  
will be better placed to help drive  
future growth.

Colin will be responsible for all of  
Air Partner’s global IT going forward, 
Project Connect being the initial  
focal point for this. Phase one  
includes a global IT infrastructure 
upgrade, enabling the CRM to be 
delivered in the second half of this 
financial year, and thereafter, the  
critical introduction of the platform to 
support our new technology strategy 
and product roadmap across the Group.  
As a result of the increased strategic 
focus on technology and Project 
Connect, going forward we expect  
the annual technology cost for the 
Group to increase, albeit off  
a low base. We are confident  
that this is strategically the right  
investment to be making and the 
increased cost will better position  
the Company for the long term.  

Commercial Jet Broking
Revenue in the 12 months to  
31 January 2014 increased by  
14% to £148.7m (2013: £130.7m)  
with underlying profit before tax  
38% higher at £2.3m (2013: £1.7m).  
The growth has been driven by excellent 
performances in the UK, US and France, 
resulting from an increased sales 
focus and the development of closer 
relationships with clients. These strong 
results have been achieved despite the 
slowdown of government business.

Private Jet Broking
Revenue increased in the period  
by 21% to £55.9m (2013: £46.4m)  
with underlying profit before tax 
increasing by 36% to £1.5m  
(2013: £1.1m). Significant growth  
was achieved in the UK and US,  
which was driven by investment  
in high calibre talent that has added 
a new dimension to the private jet 
division, with an increased focus  
on sales and improved tailoring  
of products to suit local markets.

The recruitment of key individuals into 
the division has had a positive impact, 
strengthening our specialist expertise 
and capabilities in our strategic areas, 
for example in Tour Operating and 
Oil & Gas. Today, we have an even 
better understanding of customers’ 
requirements and have improved  
our ability to provide the bespoke 
solutions our clients require. Tour 
Operating in Europe has delivered 
strong results and has contributed  
35% of the revenue in the division. 
While our established presence in 
Aberdeen and Houston has enabled  
us to gain good traction in the  
Oil & Gas sector and revenue has 
increased by 54%. The team in the 
US carried out several successful 
evacuations, rescuing stranded  
cruise line passengers and also won  
the prestigious programme to fly 
the World Cup Trophy to 90 different 
countries before the World Cup 
tournament starts in Brazil in June. 
The Conference and Incentive market 
remains slow to come out of recovery 
and the sector remains extremely 
competitive with low margins. 

We are seeing particularly strong 
interest from high net worth individual 
leisure traffic, and in line with this,  
our JetCard continues to perform well. 
Sales and renewals are up 29% for the 
period with card utilisation up by 84%.  
The product continues to provide  
the flexibility that both corporates  
and high net worth individuals demand. 
This flexibility has been improved 
further with the launch of our new  
card product aimed specifically at  
the corporate market. As the economy 
continues to improve, we are well 
placed to benefit from further HNWI 
flying as potential clients seek to 
enhance their air travel preferences. 

The traction gained in the  
Continental European private jet  
market has not been as great as 
expected. The market conditions 
remain challenging, reflecting the 
economic conditions in the region,  
but we continue to build our talent  
and skill set in our European private  
jet offices. We are confident that  
the recruitment and steps taken  
to date leave the division well  
placed for the future, as continental 
economies improve. 

Mark Briffa, CEO

Our JetCard continues to perform well with  sales and renewals up 29% for the period. ““ 
Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

11

Freight Broking
Although revenue was down by  
26% to £11.7m (2013: £15.9m), 
underlying profit before tax was  
level with the comparable 12 month 
period at £0.2m, due to early 
management of the cost base.  
The lower revenues reflect on-going 
challenging conditions in the freight 
sector, and the comparative period, 
which still included a large government 
contract which ended in March 2012. 

However, over the last 6 months,  
a positive upturn has been seen 
in the market and the level of new 
business has increased. Two significant 
flying programmes were completed; 
delivering humanitarian aid to the 
Philippines and flying equipment  
to the Winter Olympics in Sochi.  
Freight remains a core product  
offering and to support this,  
investment has been made in 
experienced industry specialists  
based in Cologne and Istanbul.  
Progress building new business around 
the Air Partner Time Critical offering 
is being made and this is helping to 
reinforce an improving performance.

In conclusion, I am pleased to report 
that the Group has delivered a strong 
performance for the year and continued 
its positive progress against our 
strategic objectives. While the global 
macro environment continues slowly 
to improve, over 50 years’ aviation 
experience reminds us to balance 
optimism with a healthy degree of 
conservatism in our outlook and 
planning.  We are well funded with  
a robust cash balance sheet and  
intend to deliver a growing dividend  
for our shareholders into the 
foreseeable future. This strong  
position enables Air Partner to  
invest in  areas such as new IT, product 
development, recruitment, training, 
brand marketing and in strengthening 
the global office infrastructure.

I would like to thank all of my Air Partner 
colleagues for their hard work and 
commitment through the year.  
Our company is trusted by customers  
to respond quickly and deliver the 
highest standards of service and  
I am proud that we achieve these  
high standards day in, day out.
.

Mark Briffa, CEO

After the impact of non-trading items,  
the performance of the divisions is  
as follows: 

Chief Financial Officer’s review 

Financial review 
This is a strong set of results  
with 7% revenue growth and  
28% underlying profit growth.  
The results were driven by strong 
performances in the two key divisions – 
Commercial Jets and Private Jets. 

Commercial Jet revenues improved  
by 14% to £148.7m and Private Jet 
revenues were 21% stronger at £55.9m.  
This contrasted with Group revenues, 
which showed year on year revenue 
growth of 7%, reflecting continued 
Freight weakness, and the Group’s 
Operations divisions (Fuel and Ops24) 
transitioning from revenue seeking 
business units to smaller support 
services functions.

There were two significant non-trading 
expenditures in the period, which 
negatively impacted profit before tax  
and earnings per share. Firstly,  
the capital cost associated with  
the CRM, resulting in a £774,000 
impairment charge, leaving an asset 
value of £260,000. This represents  
the CRM element of the new system 
which is being retained as part of Project 
Connect and will go-live in the second 
half of this financial year. Secondly,  
the restructuring and redundancy  
costs, largely associated with delivering 
the transition to a product led focus, 
resulted in restructuring costs of 
£646,000 in the period.

After the impact of non-trading items, the performance of the divisions is as follows:

(unaudited) 

Year ended 31 January 2014 

Underlying profit before tax 
Non-trading items  
Profit before tax 

Year ended 31 January 2013 

Underlying profit before tax 
Non-trading items  
Profit before tax 

Dividend
The Board has recommended  
a final dividend for the period  
of 14.0p per share which together  
with the interim paid in April 2013  
of 6.05p and the increased interim 
dividend of 14.0p paid in October 2013 
respectively represent a total dividend  
for the period of 34.05p per share.  
If approved by shareholders the  
dividend will be paid on 16 June 2014  
to shareholders on the register on  
16 May 2014.

Commercial 
Jet Broking 
£’000 

Private 
Jet Broking 
£’000 

Freight 
Broking 
£’000 

Support 
Services 
£’000 

2,331  
(777) 
1,554  

£’000 

1,684  
(84) 
1,600  

1,509  
(494) 
1,015  

£’000 

1,110  
6  
1,116  

207  
(69) 
138  

£’000 

238  
(42) 
196  

203  
(80) 
123  

£’000 

298  
(2) 
296  

Total 
£’000

4,250 
(1,420)
2,830 

£’000

3,330 
(122)
3,208 

The business pays dividends subject  
to performance and typically they  
are split on the basis of one third interim 
payment and two thirds final payment.  
In future the board anticipates returning 
to a one-third and two third split  
and intends to continue the recent 
practice of growing the dividend  
by 10% per annum. 

Cash
During the period from 31 January 2013  
to 31 January 2014, cash rose by £1.1m  
to £18.4m. The Group’s short term cash 
balances show high levels of short term 
volatility due to the timing differences  
in the receipt of funds from clients and 
payment to aircraft operators. It should  
be noted that £8.8m (2013: £8.6m) of the 
cash balance is due to JetCard clients’ 
deposits with the Group and to improve 
the visibility of this split, it is now  
shown separately as a footnote on the 
Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.

Gavin Charles, CFO

 
 
 
 
Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

13

—  Freight provides whole aircraft  

charter for freight usage. Clients  
are typically transporting cargo  
not suitable for scheduled freight 
services – often due to the size,  
the weight or the destination.  
Freight provides an ad hoc service  
and a Time Critical product meeting 
the need for urgent, tracked delivery.

—  Other Services comprises an in house 
travel agency and an Emergency 
Planning department. The travel 
agency enables Air Partner to meet  
the needs of clients combining 
scheduled flying and private charter. 
The Emergency Planning department 
provides large companies with 
employees working in volatile  
parts of the world with detailed 
evacuation plans.

The business also provides 24/7  
tracking of flights, 365 days of the year. 
This enables Air Partner to address 
operational issues and respond to 
additional client requests at any time  
of the day.

The aircraft charter broking market  
has low barriers to entry and a large 
number of competing businesses, 
including many sole traders. Air Partner  
is one of the largest charter brokers in  
the world. This gives it a number of 
advantages when tendering for larger 
pieces of work, including:

—  The expertise, capability and contacts 
that have been built up over the last  
50 years of trading.

—  A reputation for providing a high 
quality product and excellent 
customer service.

—  Financial reassurance for the client.  
Air Partner is the only quoted air 
charter broker and this provides 
clients with the highest level of 
financial transparency and rigour.  
Air Partner also has an extremely 
strong Balance Sheet with 
approaching 20m of cash  
and no debt.

Business model 

Air Partner is a global aviation  
charter specialist with customers 
spanning governments, individuals, 
corporate and other organisations.  
The business has 20 offices in  
17 countries and employs about  
200 people. 

The business is managed on a  
divisional basis, with a product led 
focus. The divisions are as follows:

—  Commercial Jets covers the charter  
of passenger aircraft with over 20 
seats. The division has a wide range  
of clients including governments,  
tour operator businesses, oil & gas 
and automotive companies and  
sports organisations. The business 
has successfully diversified its client 
base over the last three years, with the 
reduction of government business  
and an increase in tour operator and 
oil & gas work. 

—  Private Jets provides charters  

of aircraft with 20 seats or less.  
Clients can charter aircraft on an  
ad hoc basis or purchase hours in 
advance (a JetCard) and benefit from  
an all-inclusive fixed price and various 
aircraft availability commitments. 
Whilst predominantly bought by 
private individuals, Air Partner has 
recently launched a new card aimed 
specifically at corporate clients. 

The Board has not delegated 
its responsibility for financial 
risk management, including the 
management of treasury activities. 
Further information on interest rate risk, 
credit risk and liquidity risk is given in 
note 20 to the financial statements. 
Other risks and uncertainties which  
the Board considers to be material  
to Air Partner’s ability to continue 
in business are summarised in the 
chart below. The principal risk to the 
Group’s business stems from the 
general economic conditions in which 
our clients operate, affecting their 
willingness to charter. Ad hoc charters 
are likely to continue to be impacted  
by serious economic instability in  
the major world markets.

Principal risk and uncertainties

Lead times for ad hoc bookings are 
measured in days or weeks, rather 
than months. Forward bookings 
can be impacted very suddenly 
by changes in financial markets, 
political instability and natural events 
affecting the movement of people or 
cargo from one country to another. 
Economic uncertainty affects corporate, 
government and individual clients and 
affects the quality of supply of aircraft 
as operators consolidate or leave the 
market. These are trends outside the 
Group’s control but the strategy remains 
to diversify to address seasonality  
and changes in the client mix. 

Aircraft charter broking on the  
Air Partner model can be classed as  
a relatively low financial risk business,  
in that the broker sells capacity on 
aircraft owned and operated by a  
third party and contracts are normally 
placed as mirrored transactions.  
The Group does not have any 
contractual arrangements with any 
significant individual or company  
which are essential to continuation  
of the business. 

The profile of risks fluctuates from 
time to time and not all risks can be 
listed in full, nor can the actions being 
taken to manage and control risks be 
guaranteed to mitigate completely their 
effects on the business or to reduce 
risks absolutely.

“The principal risk to the Group’s business stems from the general economic conditions in which our clients operate, affecting their willingness to charter. “Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

15

Type of risk 

Impact on Air Partner business 

Management/mitigation of risk

Economic risk

Economic uncertainty, including 
Eurozone volatility, reduces the 
demand for ad hoc aviation solutions.

Aviation risk

Failure of aircraft chartered  
by Air Partner.

Diversification of the client base across governments  
and non-governmental organisations, commercial enterprises  
and individuals and across geographic regions allows for  
some smoothing when there are seasonal or sectorial  
changes in demand.

High quality standards apply to the choice of aircraft and carrier 
for each charter. Air Partner maintains non-owned aircraft liability 
insurance which can also be extended to clients. All flights are 
watched in operation by the in-house operations team.

External risk

Legal and  
Regulatory risk 

Adverse weather conditions or  
external incidents outside Air Partner’s 
control (eg earthquake, ash cloud, 
terrorist alerts) closed airports or  
meaning flying is prohibited.

The in-house operations team monitors external conditions  
very closely and will advise clients of any potential problems. 
There is potential upside if private charters can use smaller 
airfields or ad hoc freight charter can recover deliveries  
otherwise delayed by a lack of scheduled flights.

The Group has to comply with a 
large number of different laws and 
regulations, including tax and civil 
aviation authority requirements.  
Such regulations are subject to 
continual change and there is a risk 
that Group does not comply with 
applicable laws and regulations,  
or inadvertently breaches regulations. 

Management reviews policies and processes at  
Leadership Team level. The business has a range  
of policies to minimise these risks and reviews  
and updates them on a regular basis. 

Supply risk

Suitable aircraft are not available  
for charter in key sectors /  
geographic areas.

Air Partner deals with many different operators worldwide  
and is not reliant on a single supplier or contractor.

Competitor risk

Air Partner falls behind competitors  
in product development, standards  
of service or cost effectiveness.

The Group undertakes client surveys to ensure it remains 
responsive to client demands and within acceptable market  
price levels for the quality and standards of service provided.

Business  
Interruption risk

Systems for sourcing and booking 
aircraft and for client management  
and administration fail or cannot  
be accessed by employees.

International scope reduces reliance on a single  
office location. Back-up operating systems are provided  
for this and employees can work remotely if necessary.

Employee risk

Failure to attract, retain and  
motivate high quality employees.

The Group invests in recruitment, talent management,  
learning and development programmes to maintain staffing  
levels and improve performance on a continuing basis. 
Remuneration and motivational incentives are reviewed  
regularly and regular social events are provided to encourage 
family feeling across the Group.

Reputational risk

Air Partner’s reputation is damaged  
by an incident or inappropriate action, 
causing client losses.

Air Partner’s brand values of honesty, truth and reliability  
are treated very seriously. Discretion is key to our customer 
service and its importance is communicated to all members  
of the team.

Key performance indicators

The Group’s Key Performance  
Indicators (“KPI’s”) are shown here. 
The financial indicators are designed 
to help management and investors to 
assess performance and are capable  
of being measured over the longer term.

Operational indicators relate to the 
number of people with Air Partner 
whose efforts drive performance. 
All KPI’s are based on total rather 
than underlying measures, except 
for underlying profit before tax and 
underlying basic earnings per share.

A high percentage of the Group’s 
business is driven by the short term 
needs of the client. A long forward  
order book is therefore not available 
and not appropriate to use as  
a measure of the Group’s longer  
term prospects.

Detailed segmental reporting is set out  
in note 3 to the financial statements.

Year ended 31 January 2014   v   Year ended 31 January 2013 (unaudited)

Revenue 
£m

Gross Profit 
£m

Underlying profit before tax 
£m

6

5

4

3

2

1

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

300

250

200

150

100

50

30

25

20

15

10

5

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

Net cash 
£m

Staff voluntary churn 
%

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

17

Underlying basic  
earnings per share   Pence

Basic earnings per share 
Pence

Dividends per share 
Pence

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

23

22

21

20

19

18

17

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

30

25

20

15

10

5

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

Return on equity 
%

Total shareholder return 
%

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jet travel does have significant 
environmental consequences. 
Although we do not operate aircraft 
directly, we work with our clients,  
our suppliers and our service partners  
to monitor and review the impact of  
our operations. 

Many clients are conscious of, and 
would like to reduce, the environmental 
impact of their flights and we are happy 
to recommend aircraft which have a 
lower fuel burn profile, though this is 
not always available for large freight 
flights in particular. We can calculate 
automatically the carbon footprint of 
every flight and can provide clients  
with the data they need to make 
realistic decisions about both costs  
and emissions. We also include 
optional carbon offset costs as standard 
in our proposals. The number of tonnes 
offset can only be decided upon by our 
clients. The amount of carbon offset 
has shown a significant increase over 
the last three years but this remains a 
very small proportion in terms of the 
number of flights undertaken each year. 
Air Partner also offers a Carbon Neutral 
JetCard for frequent fliers.

Carbon offsets are used to help fund 
climate-friendly technology projects 
in less developed parts of the world 
which make use of renewable energy 
sources or improve energy efficiency, 
also providing socio-economic 
benefits. Projects this year, which 
have been vetted and endorsed by 
The CarbonNeutral Company, have 
included the installation of wind 
turbines in Maharashtra, India. This 
project involves the development of 
25 x 800kW wind turbines with a total 
installed capacity of 20 MW located in 
the village of Panchpatta. The project 
provides 35GWh of renewable electricity 
to the Western regional electricity grid of 
India per year, reducing CO2 emissions 
by displacing electricity from fossil 
fuel-based electricity generation plants 
(particularly coal-based generation). 
This project is validated to the Verified 
Carbon Standard (VCS).

Corporate social responsibility

Air Partner regularly reviews and 
identifies ways in which its impact  
on the environment and its  
contribution to the community 
as a whole could be improved. 
Sustainability and Corporate Social 
Responsibility are an important part  
of Air Partner’s vision, mission and 
values and are key to achieving  
our goals.

The Group’s Business Ethics  
policy implemented last year  
contains a separate statement on 
Corporate Hospitality and can be 
downloaded from the corporate 
website: www.airpartner.com/
investors/corporate-governance.

Environmental awareness
The Group seeks to reduce its  
carbon footprint year on year,  
and the move to new offices at  
Gatwick has improved energy  
efficiency and reduced road usage 
as staff and visitors utilise excellent 
local transport connections. Rail travel 
for staff and local buses for staff and 
visitors alike are subsidised by the 
Company. A waste monitoring and 
reduction programme has also been 
instigated. For information on the 
Group’s output of greenhouse gases, 
please see the Directors’ Report  
on page 28.

The Group is committed to providing equal opportunities and ensuring that employees are able to work without discrimination. ““Dream flight over the  
London skyline for inspiring  
boy with Spina Bifida

A six year old boy from Lambeth had his 
dream come true when he had the chance 
to take the controls of a helicopter before 
enjoying an incredible flight over the 
London skyline.

Abel Seleshi, who has spina bifida 
and hydrocephalus, which has left him 
unable to stand or walk and reliant on 
a wheelchair was given the opportunity 
to hold the controls of Elite Helicopters’ 
Agusta A109 helicopter before enjoying  
the trip of a lifetime.

Taking off from the grounds of his  
primary school in West Dulwich,  
Abel was given the chance to enjoy  
a bird’s eye view of London flying as  
low as 500 feet over the Olympic Stadium 
and the London Eye by Air Partner. 

In association with WellChild,  
the national charity for sick children,  
Air Partner carefully planned and 
orchestrated this special trip for Abel  
and by sponsoring the PLC Awards  
we raised money to help the charity 
continue to provide essential support  
for seriously ill children, young people  
and their families across the UK.

Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

19

There are occasions when air transport 
is the only solution and environmental 
damage has to be set against the 
undoubted benefit of being able to 
deliver fast, targeted help for those 
in need. Air Partner has expertise in 
chartering air ambulance and organ 
transplant flights and is proud of its 
involvement in providing humanitarian 
relief flights to deliver much needed  
aid and support to victims of war, 
famine, floods and earthquakes  
around the world. 

Employees
The efforts of every single person in 
the business count towards Group 
performance. Investment in people has 
been targeted by the Board as a priority 
and a number of key appointments 
have been made during the financial 
year. Whether those people are 
experienced professional support staff, 
brokers or sales team all are expected  
to produce returns in the form of 
aircraft charters successfully delivered 
for clients. Remuneration is linked to 
performance throughout the business. 

Air Partner is proud of its  
commitment to learning and 
development. The Group provides 
induction training in the UK for every 
new member of staff, followed by 
short courses designed to increase 
knowledge, develop new ideas  
and promote and strengthen 
relationships between international 
teams and offices. We also encourage 
continued professional development. 
There are regular updates on the 
Group’s performance, through regular 
team and Divisional briefings and  
with individual office summaries  
and commentaries available on the 
staff intranet. Talent management  
and learning and development 
initiatives were implemented within  
the year to encourage personal success, 
to ensure that Air Partner people are 
“best in industry”.

The Group is committed to  
providing equal opportunities  
and ensuring that employees are  
able to work without discrimination.  
Full and fair consideration is given  
to employment applications from 
persons with a disability. If an employee 
were to become disabled while in 
employment, the Group would make 
every effort to enable the employee to 
continue in employment and would 
make arrangements for additional 
equipment, support and training  
as appropriate.

The breakdown of employees as at 31 January 2014:

Main Board 
Leadership Team 
Group totals 

Male 

6 
6 
99 

 Female

0
1
97

 
Going concern basis

Going concern
Having considered the Group’s  
current financial position, the factors 
affecting its cost base, the state of  
the air charter market as a whole and 
budget forecast figures for a period 
of not less than twelve months from 
the date of approval of these financial 
statements, the directors are satisfied 
that the Group and the Company have 
adequate resources to continue in 
business for the foreseeable future  
and the Company is a going concern. 
The directors have continued to 
adopt the going concern basis in the 
preparation of the financial statements.

Expected future developments 
The Group intends to concentrate  
on the core business of broking  
but will seek to widen and broaden  
its client base, focusing on niche 
areas of business which align  
well with the Group’s strengths.  
In particular, the Group will  
highlight industries and territories 
where different Air Partner offices  
can work together to provide high 
levels of service. 

Air Partner has highlighted its 
intention to continue to invest in 
staff and IT infrastructure. Air Partner 
remains committed to becoming the 
Number One Air Charter specialists. 
The Directors continue to believe that 
the best route to increasing long term 
value for shareholders is to deliver 
excellent service across the product 
range and across the broadest 
possible geographic area. 

This report was approved by the 
board of directors on 9 April 2014 
and signed on its behalf by;

Mark Briffa
Chief Executive

The Group will highlight industries and territories where different Air Partner offices can work together to provide high  levels of service. ““Strategic report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

21

AC – Member of the Audit Committee
RC – Member of the Remuneration Committee
NC – Member of the Nomination Committee 

Richard Everitt (65) 
AC RC NC
Independent  
Non-Executive Chairman

Richard qualified as a solicitor,  
rising to the position of Director  
of BAA plc with responsibility for 
strategy and regulatory matters 
following its privatisation.  
He subsequently became  
Chief Executive of National  
Air Traffic Services in 2001 and,  
since December 2004, has been  
Chief Executive of the Port of  
London Authority. Richard was 
appointed as non-executive  
Chairman on 9 February 2012.

Mark Briffa (49) 
NC
CEO

Mark started his career with  
Air Partner as a Commercial Jets  
broker in 1996 and joined the Board 
in 2006 as Chief Operating Officer, 
becoming CEO in April 2010.  
He has direct experience of air charter 
broking and wide knowledge of the 
private aviation sector worldwide, 
built up over more than 20 years’ 
experience in the industry.

Tony Mack (65) 
AC RC
Non-Executive Director

Tony is the son of Air Partner’s  
founder and first joined the family 
business in 1970, becoming  
Managing Director in 1979.  
He was appointed as Executive 
Chairman in 1985 and led the  
initial flotation of Air Partner shares  
on the London Stock Exchange,  
before stepping back into a  
non-executive role in 2008.  
His knowledge and experience  
of private aviation are unequalled 
within Air Partner and he personifies 
the link between the Group’s  
modern international presence  
and its founding principles of value 
and service. He is to retire from  
the Board at the forthcoming AGM.

Gavin Charles (48)
CFO

Gavin qualified as a chartered 
accountant with Ernst & Young and 
has more than 20 years’ experience, 
having served as Finance Director 
in a number of UK and international 
companies. He was UK Finance 
Director of Miele Company Ltd before 
joining Air Partner as CFO in June 
2010. As previously announced his 
agreement will terminate with effect 
from 1 May 2014.

Board of Directors

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

23

Grahame Chilton (55) 
AC RC
Independent  
Non-Executive Director

Grahame has enjoyed a long  
career in the re-insurance market. 
He was a leading member of the 
management team which lead the 
buyout of the Benfield Group in  
1988 becoming Chief Executive in 
1996 . Benfield was acquired by  
the AON Corporation in 2008.  
Until l November 2013 he was the 
Chairman of Aon Holdings Limited. 
Grahame has established ( and is 
Chairman and CEO) Capsicum Re  
a global reinsurance intermediary  
in partnership with AJ Gallagher  
(a NYSE listed insurance broker).  
On joining the Board in July 2013 
Grahame became the Chairman  
of the Remuneration Committee.

Charles (Chuck) Pollard (56) 
AC RC
Independent  
Non-Executive Director

Chuck brings to Air Partner over  
20 years’ experience of the international 
non-scheduled airline industry as the 
former CEO of OmniAir International and 
World Airways. He is a director of Allegiant 
Travel Company, a US low cost air carrier 
listed on NASDAQ and AirCastle Limited, 
an aircraft leasing and finance company 
listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 
He has served as a non-executive director 
since July 2009. 

Andrew Wood (62) 
AC RC NC
Senior Independent  
Non-Executive Director

Andrew joined the Board in  
June 2011 and is the Senior 
Independent Director , Chairman  
of the Audit Committee and until  
July 2013, Chairman of the 
Remuneration Committee . 
He was from 2001 to 2010 group 
finance director of BBA Aviation plc 
and RACAL Electronics Group from 
1995–2000. A chartered management 
accountant Andrew is also a  
non- executive director and  
Chairman of the Audit Committee  
of Berendsen plc and Lavendon Group 
plc. On 1 November 2013 Andrew 
became a non – executive director  
of Stobart Group Limited .

The Leadership Team has collective 
responsibility for running the Group’s 
business by:
 —  developing Air Partner’s strategy  
and budget for Board approval,

 —  recommending to the Board  
capital expenditure and  
investment budgets,

 —  monitoring financial, operational  

and service performance,

 —  allocating resources across Air 
Partner as agreed by the Board, 
 —  planning and delivering major 

programmes, and

 —  reviewing the senior talent  
base and succession plans. 

The Terms of Reference for the 
Leadership Team are reviewed and 
approved by the Board annually, 
under which it can approve, up to 
limits beyond which Board approval 
is required, capital expenditure, and 
disposals of fixed assets, investments 
and divestments. The members of  
the Leadership Team call upon over  
90 years of aviation experience.

Mark Briffa 
CEO

Gavin Charles
CFO

Richard Smith
Director, Freight and Support Services 

Leadership Team

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

25

Neil Morris 
Acting CFO 

Paul Argyle
Director, Commercial Jets

Paul Richardson
Director Private Jets

Phil Mathews
President of Air Partner, Inc. (US)

Rachel Davies
Group HR Director

Kiran Parmar
Group Marketing Director

Share capital structure  
and shareholder rights
The authorised share capital of the 
Company is £750,000 divided into 
15,000,000 ordinary shares of 5 pence 
each. All ordinary shares have equal 
rights to dividends and capital and 
to vote at general meetings of the 
Company, as set out in the Company’s 
Articles of Association. The number of 
ordinary shares of 5 pence each issued 
and fully paid at 31 January 2014 was 
10,261,393 (2012: 10,261,393). No 
shares were issued during the year.

The directors present their reports and 
the audited financial statements for the 
eighteen months to 31 January 2014. 

Information within the Strategic report, 
the Chairman’s statement, the Chief 
Executive’s review and the Chief 
Financial Officer’s review on pages  
6 to 12 is incorporated into the 
Directors’ report by reference,  
which constitutes the fair review  
of the business required by the 
Companies Act 2006. Corporate 
governance is discussed on pages  
29 to 31. The details of the salaries,  
bonuses, benefits and share interests 
of directors are shown in the directors’ 
remuneration report on pages 36 to 53.

Results and dividends
The Group results are shown in the 
consolidated income statement on  
page 67. Profit after taxation for the year 
was £2.8 million (2012: £3.0 million). 
Factors influencing the results are 
discussed in the Chief Financial 
Officer’s Review on page 12. Subject  
to shareholder approval at the AGM  
a final dividend of 14.00 pence  
per share is proposed, to be paid  
on 16 June 2014 to shareholders  
on the register on 16 May 2014.  
Together with the interim dividend of 
6.05 pence per share paid in April 2013 
and the second interim dividend paid  
in October 2013 of 14.00p per share 
paid, the total dividend for the eighteen 
month accounting period amounts  
to 34.05 pence per share (2012: total 
dividend of 18.2 pence per share).

Substantial shareholdings
As at 9 April 2014 the Company was 
aware of substantial interests in  
the Company’s shares or had been 
notified of interests in voting rights 
under Chapter 5 of the Disclosure  
and Transparency Rules, as follows:

Substantial shareholdings
Shareholder 

Aberforth Partners LLP 
Schroder Investments Ltd 
BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Ltd 
R Griffiths 
A G Mack and family 
Miton Asset Management Limited 
Barclays Stockbrokers 
Unicorn Asset Management Limited 
Allianz Global Investors  
Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers 
Brewin Dolphin Stockbrokers 

Number of shares 

1,129,834 
1,070,000 
767,483 
759,600 
751,500 
474,133 
455,123 
422,953 
400,000 
396,997 
373,570 

% held 

11.01 
10.43 
7.48 
7.40 
7.32 
4.62 
4.44 
4.12 
3.90 
3.87 
3.64 

Nature of holding

Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Direct
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect
Indirect

The interests shown may include shares held under discretionary management agreements for which the manager may not exercise voting rights. 
Based on Shares in Issue of 10,261,393
Source: RDIR, RNS

Directors’ report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

27

The issued share capital of the 
Company is £513,000 divided  
into 10,261,393 ordinary shares  
of 5 pence each. 

Options outstanding under all 
employee share schemes amounted 
to 8.76% of the Company’s issued 
share capital as at 31 January 2014. 
This includes options granted which 
have not yet vested. No more than 
20% of issued share capital in any 
rolling 10 year period may be taken 
up by employee share schemes. In 
addition options representing 7.4% 
of the issued share capital have been 
exercised within the 10 years preceding 
31 January 2014. No more than 20% of 
the issued share capital in any rolling 
ten year period may currently be taken 
up by employee share schemes by way 
of dilution but it is proposed to reduce 
this limit to 10% with any excess (up to a 
further 10% of the issued share capital) 
being acquired by purchase in the 
market via an employee benefit trust.

Under the Articles of Association, 
the Company has authority to 
issue 15,000,000 ordinary shares. 
Resolutions to renew the authorities 
given to directors to allot shares, to 
disapply certain pre-emption rights 
and to make market purchases of the 
Company’s own shares, all subject to 
appropriate limits, will be put to the 
Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) to 
replace the authorities granted in 2012.

There are no specific restrictions on 
the size of a holding nor on the transfer 
of shares, which are both governed by 
the general provisions of the Articles of 
Association and prevailing legislation. 
The directors are not aware of any 
agreements between holders of the 
Company’s shares that may result in 
restrictions on the transfer of securities 
or on voting rights.

No person has any special rights of 
control over the Company’s share 
capital and all issued shares are fully 
paid. No individual or corporate entity 
has the right to appoint a director. 
The appointment and replacement of 
directors is governed by the Articles 
of Association, the UK Corporate 
Governance Code, the Companies  
Act 2006 and related legislation. 

During the period, the Group 
established the Air Partner Employee 
Benefit Trust (“the Trust”) in order to 
satisfy options under the Group’s share 
option schemes. At 31 January 2014 the 
number of ordinary shares held by the 
Trust was 224,932. Shares held by  
the Trust will not be voted.

““Disabled employees
Applications for employment 
by disabled persons are always 
considered, bearing in mind the 
aptitudes of the applicant concerned. 
In the event of members of staff 
becoming disabled every effort  
is made to ensure that their 
employment with the group  
continues and appropriate training  
is arranged.It is the policy of the  
group that the training, career 
development and promotion,  
of disabled persons should,  
as far as possible, be identical  
to that of other employees.

Greenhouse gas emmissions
The Group is reporting as required 
under the Large and Medium – Sized 
Companies and groups (Accounts and 
Reports) Regulation 2008 as amended 
in 2013. The GHG Protocol Accounting 
and Reporting Standard and emission 
factors from the UK Government’s GHG 
Conversion Factors have been used for 
calculating the results. The key source 
of emissions is the use of gas and 
electricity in offices located around the 
world. The Group does not operate a 
significant number of motor vehicles.

Vehicles 
Electricity 
Total  

2014 
(tonnes)

15 
226 
241

We have reported on all of the emission 
sources required under the Large and 
Medium-Sized Companies and Groups 
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 
2008 as amended in August 2013.  
The reporting boundary used for 
collation of the above data is consistent 
with that used for consolidation 
purposes in the financial statements.  
We have used the GHG Protocol 
Corporate Accounting and Reporting 
Standard (revised edition), data 
gathered to fulfil our requirements 
under the CRC Energy Efficiency scheme, 
and emission factors from the UK 
Government’s GHG Conversion Factors 
for Company Reporting 2014 to calculate 
the above disclosures.

The Group use of greenhouse gasses 
is restricted to office use and the 
operation of a small number of vehicles. 
In the case of offices occupation 
is usually within a multi occupied 
building without separate metering  
for individual parts where this has 
occurred an estimate has been used.

Directors’ statement of responsibility  
for disclosure of information to auditors
As required by section 418 of the 
Companies Act 2006, each director 
serving at the date of approval of the 
financial statements confirms that:

 —  to the best of his knowledge and 
belief, there is no information 
relevant to the preparation of their 
reports of which the Company’s 
auditor is unaware; and

 —  each director has taken all the steps 

a director might reasonably be 
expected to have taken to be aware 
of relevant audit information and to 
establish that the Company’s auditor 
is aware of that information.

Words and phrases used in this 
confirmation should be interpreted  
in accordance with section 418 of  
the Companies Act 2006.

Directors’ indemnity
The Company has made qualifying 
third-party indemnity provisions  
for the benefit of its directors which 
remain in force at the date of this report.  
In certain circumstances, the Company 
can indemnify directors, in accordance 
with its Articles of Association,  
against costs incurred in the  
defence of legal proceedings brought 
against them by virtue of their office.  
Directors’ and officers’ liability 
insurance is provided for the benefit  
of all directors, the Company Secretary 
and senior managers.

Auditor
Deloitte LLP have confirmed that they are 
willing to be reappointed as auditor for 
the financial year ending 31 January 2015. 

In accordance with Section 489 of the 
Companies Act 2006, a resolution 
proposing the appointment of a 
statutory auditor will be proposed  
at the AGM.

The Directors’ Report was approved by 
the Board on 9 April 2014 and is signed 
on its behalf by:

David M Hatton FCA
Company Secretary
Air Partner plc  
(registered in England and Wales,  
under company number 00980675
2 City Place, Beehive Ring Road, 
Gatwick. West Sussex RH6 0PA)

The Group use of greenhouse 
gasses is restricted to office use 
and the operation of a small 
number of vehicles. 

““Directors’ report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

29

Corporate governance statement

Compliance with the UK Corporate 
Governance Code
For the period year ended 31 January 
2014 the Board considers it complied 
with all aspects of the UK Corporate 
Governance Code June 2010  
(the “Code”).

Diversity
Air Partner is a team made up  
of people with a broad range of 
backgrounds but does not intend 
to adopt a quota system, preferring 
to appoint the best candidate for 
any position. Instructions to any 
external agent appointed for senior 
appointments require that agent  
to provide a list of candidates from  
as many different backgrounds  
as possible.

Performance evaluation 
During the year, an internal review  
of the performance of the Board  
and of individual Directors was carried 
out. As part of the review, objectives 
have been set for the Board for the  
next 12 months. 

These areas include;

 — Succession planning for the Board
 — Review of Group strategy

 Progress in achieving these objectives 
will form part of the next review.

Board constitution
The Board, as shown on pages 22  
and 23, is made up of two executive  
and five non-executive directors, 
including the Chairman who is 
responsible for leadership of the Board. 
The balance of the Board is such that  
no individual or group of individuals 
can dominate the Board’s decision 
making and there is a mix of skills  
and experience. Neither of the 
executive directors is a director of  
a public company outside the Group. 
Clear responsibilities are allocated  
to each of the non-executive  
Chairman, the CEO, the CFO and  
the Senior Independent Director.  
These terms and conditions of 
appointment are set out in  
writing and are available from  
the Company Secretary or at  
www.airpartner.com/investors/
corporate-governance.

The Board carries ultimate responsibility 
for the conduct of the Group’s business. 
A formal schedule of matters is 
reserved for Board decision, including 
formulation and development of 
strategy, major acquisitions or 
disposals, significant bank borrowings, 
Board level appointments, the approval 
of financial reports and price sensitive 
statements and overall business risk 
assessment. A copy of the schedule is 
available online at www.airpartner.com/
investors/corporate-governance.  
The Board receives reports at each 
meeting from the CEO, the CFO and,  
following meetings of Board Committees, 
from their respective Chairmen.

Independence of  
non-executive directors
The Board considers all the  
non-executive directors, other than  
Tony Mack, to be independent.  
Tony Mack is a former executive 
Chairman and holds more than  
6% of the Company’s share capital.  
In the case of Mr Everitt, Mr Pollard  
and Mr Wood given their relatively  
small shareholdings, the Board  
does not believe that this impacts  
on their independence.

The Chairman’s other directorships  
are listed in his biography. 

Re-election of directors
In accordance with best practice,  
all directors except for Tony Mack  
(who is to retire from the Board at the 
forthcoming AGM) and Gavin Charles  
(his agreement will terminate with effect 
from 1 May 2014) will resign at this 
year’s AGM and stand for re-election. 

Following performance evaluation,  
the Board confirms its belief that  
all directors bring significant value 
to the business, are effective in 
Board decision-making and show 
the appropriate level of commitment 
to their roles. The Board therefore 
recommends the re-election of all 
directors, as listed in the separate 
Notice of AGM.

Number of meetings

Executive Directors 
M A Briffa 
G Charles*  

Non-executive Directors 
R Everitt 
A G Mack 
C W Pollard  
A R Wood  
G Chilton** 

Board and committee meetings
The Board meets formally at least six 
times per year, with additional meetings 
to approve the publication of the annual 
and interim results. 

Attendance at Board and Committee 
meetings by each director in the 
eighteen months to 31 January 2014  
is set out below.

A Nomination Committee will be 
constituted for each new director 
appointment and is constituted as  
a formal sub-committee of the 
Board with its own defined Terms of 
Reference. The Committee’s principal 
role is to review the composition of 
the Board and to manage the process 
for nomination of candidates and 
recommendation of a shortlist for 
the appointment of a non-executive 
director or Chairman. Membership will 
vary but the terms of reference for the 
Committee have been agreed by the 
Board and are available online at 
www.airpartner.com/investors/
corporate-governance.

When proposing appointments of 
Directors, the Committee considers 
the skills, knowledge and experience 
that a candidate possesses compared 
to the skill sets and experience of 
the Board as it currently stands. 
Selection of candidates also takes 
into consideration the breadth 
of knowledge that the Board has 
and that it may require to provide 
a well balanced environment 
which encourages scrutiny and 
appropriate challenge of the Executive 
management. Independence of  
non-executive Directors is of paramount 
importance being a cornerstone of good 
corporate governance.

In November 2013 the Nomination 
Committee made up of Richard 
Everitt, Andrew Wood and Mark Briffa 
appointed external search agents 
Odgers Berndtson to provide a shortlist 
of suitable external candidates for the 
position of Chief Finance Officer of  
the Company. 

Main 
Board 

 10/10 
 10/10 

 10/10 
 9/10 
 8/10 
 10/10 
 2/4 

Audit 
Committee 

Remuneration 
 Committee 

Nomination 
Committee 

– 
5/5* 

5/5 
4/5 
5/5 
5/5 
– 

– 
– 

5/6 
5/6 
5/6 
6/6 
2/3 

1/1
–

1/1
–
–
1/1
–

*  Gavin Charles is not a member of the Audit Committee but attends meetings by invitation.
**  Grahame Chilton became a director on 31 July 2013. 

 
 
 
Directors’ report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

31

The Remuneration Committee is  
made up of the non-executive directors 
and is chaired by Grahame Chilton. 
The Remuneration Committee reviews 
remuneration policy on behalf of the 
Board and, in particular, is responsible 
for setting executive remuneration 
levels and making discretionary 
performance-related awards to the 
executive directors. The Remuneration 
Committee’s report appears in full on 
pages 36 to 53.

The Audit Committee is also made 
up of non-executive directors except 
G. Chilton, and is chaired by Andrew 
Wood. Although not members,  
the external auditor and the CFO  
are notified of all meetings and may 
attend by invitation. At each meeting, 
the Committee has the opportunity  
to talk to the external auditor without 
the CFO being present. 

The principal duties of the Audit 
Committee are to monitor the integrity 
of the Company’s financial statements, 
to ensure that appropriate accounting 
policies and standards are being 
followed, to review on behalf of the 
Board the effectiveness of audit 
procedures and the work of the 
independent auditor and to monitor 
on behalf of the Board the systems for 
internal financial control. The Board 
as a whole is responsible for internal 
control and risk management. The 
Audit Committee is required to report 
its findings to the Board, making 
any necessary recommendations for 
action or improvements. The Audit 
Committee’s report appears in full on 
pages 32 to 34.

Leadership Team
The Leadership Team meets monthly 
to monitor operational performance, 
to consider new developments in line 
with the Group’s strategic aims and 
to discuss issues relating to different 
trading divisions or geographic regions . 
The Leadership Team has its own terms 
of reference and limits of authority, 
below those of the main Board. The 
executive directors report back to each 
main Board meeting. Leadership Team 
members will be invited to attend main 
Board sessions during each year, to 
have the opportunity to present their 
business plans, report on progress 
and give an update on key operational 
activity, future plans and business 
opportunities. In turn, non-executive 
directors attend some sessions of the 
Leadership Team, purely as observers, 
to gain a better understanding of 
current issues across the Group.

Company Secretary
All directors have access to the 
Company Secretary who is charged with 
ensuring that Board procedures are 
followed, that the Company complies 
with applicable rules and regulations 
and that Board members receive 
appropriate and timely information to 
enable them to discharge their duties 
effectively. The Company Secretary 
advises the Board on governance 
matters and can make arrangements 
for the provision of independent legal 
advice for individual directors, on 
request and up to a maximum fee limit 
set by the Board. The appointment and 
removal of the Company Secretary is  
a matter for the Board as a whole.

During the year, the full  
Board was responsible  
for the Group’s system  
of internal control. 

Report of the Audit Committee  
for the eighteen months ended  
31 January 2014

The committee met five times 
during the period. In addition to 
reviewing the interim and annual 
results announcements in advance 
of publication and planning for the 
annual statutory audit, the Committee 
has focused on documenting 
more formally the process for risk 
management and continues to review 
internal control developments.

A formal report was received from 
the statutory auditor, Deloitte LLP, 
in respect of the audit and matters 
arising from the report were discussed 
prior to the Board’s approval of the 
financial statements. The Committee 
has reviewed the external auditor’s 
independence and the effectiveness 
of the audit process, taking into 
consideration relevant UK  
regulatory requirements.

Deloitte LLP also provide taxation 
advice to the Group but a clear 
distinction is maintained between  
audit and non-audit work to ensure  
that their independence and objectivity 
is not prejudiced by the level of fees 
received, or the nature of the work 
performed. The total amount paid  
for non-audit work in the eighteen 
month period was £61,000 –  
(2012 – £186,000).

The Committee considered in advance 
the content and scope of audit work and 
the audit fees proposed by Deloitte LLP 
and discussed changes in accounting 
policies and new developments 
within the business which might affect 
financial reporting going forward.

Internal control 
During the year, the full Board was 
responsible for the Group’s system 
of internal control and for reviewing 
its effectiveness, though reports are 
provided in the first instance to the 
Audit Committee by the CFO and  
the statutory auditor. 

““Directors’ report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

33

 —  Each of the Group’s major offices is 
visited at least once a year by a senior 
member of the Finance team. 
 —  Risk registers are reviewed by  

the Audit Committee twice each  
year. Between such meetings,  
any significant risks identified will 
be notified to directors and control 
procedures suggested for their 
approval to mitigate against such 
risks, where possible.
 —  The Group does not trade 

speculatively in derivatives.  
Other than forward foreign  
exchange contracts, the Group 
does not use complex treasury 
instruments in the normal course  
of business and any specific projects 
that may involve such instruments 
require Board approval. 

 —  Clearly defined authority limits 

and controls are in place over the 
extension of credit to clients.

The key internal procedures currently  
in place are as follows: 

 —  A detailed and comprehensive 
annual budget is produced and 
formally approved by the Board.
 —  The Board maintains a schedule of 

key matters reserved for its approval, 
which include financing and changes 
to banking arrangements, all 
significant capital expenditure and 
all acquisitions and disposals.
 —  Both the Leadership Team and the 

main Board receive monthly financial 
reports, showing the performance 
of each Division and country, with 
relevant commentaries to highlight 
variance from budget or particular 
areas of concern.

 —  Business performance reports are 
circulated to the Leadership Team  
on a weekly basis for sales bookings, 
and monthly to monitor overall 
performance.

 —  Clearly defined authority limits and 
controls are in place over contract 
signing limits and purchasing 
commitments; in particular, 
brokers operate within individual, 
pre-set limits of authority and only 
those staff who have successfully 
completed a six month probationary 
period can sign charter commitments 
on behalf of the Group.

An internal audit function was 
established in the year. The Audit 
Committee reviewed and approved 
a work programme for the function 
comprising internal audit visits to 
selected offices with a self -review 
programme of work. The largest offices 
receive an internal audit visit annually 
with smaller offices reviewed less 
frequently. The findings of the internal 
audit work programme are presented 
to the Audit Committee for review. 
The internal audit function is not fully 
independent of management as it is 
currently staffed by a member of the 
finance function.

In their review, the directors will 
consider the nature of the Group’s 
business, the risks to which that 
particular business is exposed, the 
likelihood of such risks occurring and 
the costs of protecting against them. 
However, such a system is designed to 
manage rather than eliminate the risk of 
failure to achieve business objectives, 
and can only provide reasonable, and 
not absolute, assurance.

A whistle-blowing policy is in place 
across the Group to enable members 
of staff to bring to the attention of any 
director serious matters of financial 
misconduct which they believe would 
damage the performance or reputation 
of Air Partner plc.

 
Applying the principles of the Code
Improvements have been made in 
corporate governance during the year 
as well as establishing an internal audit 
function. Air Partner’s main market 
listing on the London Stock Exchange 
is valued by clients and suppliers as 
a mark of quality and transparency 
of information and I believe that the 
systems in place for Board governance, 
as detailed above, are appropriate for  
a smaller listed company.

Additional information for shareholders 
Information on share capital and major 
interests in shares, which is required 
to be disclosed under Rule 7.2.6 of the 
Disclosure and Transparency Rules, 
appears within the Directors’ Report  
on page 26.

Communication with shareholders
The Board is keen to ensure that 
effective communication with 
shareholders, analysts and the financial 
press is maintained throughout the 
year. This is achieved through timely 
publication of the annual and half year 
results and other announcements, 
as well as through presentations to 
analysts and significant shareholders. 
The Board seeks to present its strategy 
and performance in an objective 
and balanced manner. Directors 
are encouraged to meet significant 
shareholders and are keen to gain 
an understanding of the views and 
comments of both institutional and 
private individual shareholders.

The Board welcomes the participation  
of shareholders in the AGM and will 
again, this year, count all votes cast, 
whether in person or by proxy, by 
means of a poll on every resolution. 
The Chairmen of Board Committees 
will be available at the AGM to answer 
any questions that might arise. 
In accordance with the Corporate 
Governance Code the votes cast and 
the numbers of shares voted for and 
against each resolution, and any  
votes withheld, will be made public  
by means of an announcement through  
a Regulatory Information Service and  
on the Company’s website.

The AGM will be held at 11:00 am  
on Thursday 5 June 2014 at  
2 City Place, Beehive Ring Road, 
Gatwick, West Sussex RH6 0PA.  
The Notice of AGM is contained  
in a separate document which has  
been sent by post, together with  
a Proxy Form, to those shareholders  
who prefer a paper copy and by  
email where shareholders have  
agreed that Air Partner can 
communicate with them electronically. 
Both the Notice of AGM and the Proxy 
Form are available to download at 
www.airpartner.com/investors/
shareholder-information. 

Andrew Wood
Chairman

Directors’ report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

35

Directors’ responsibility  
statement

The directors are responsible for 
preparing the Strategic report 
incorporating the business review, 
the Directors’ report, the Directors’ 
remuneration report and the Group  
and parent Company financial 
statements. The directors are required 
to prepare financial statements for the 
Group in accordance with International 
Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) 
as adopted for use in the European 
Union and have also elected to prepare 
financial statements for the Company in 
accordance with IFRS as adopted for use 
in the European Union. Company law 
requires the directors to prepare such 
financial statements in accordance with 
IFRS and the Companies Act 2006 and 
Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.

International Accounting Standard 1 
requires that financial statements 
present fairly for each financial year 
the Group’s and Company’s financial 
position, financial performance 
and cash flows. This requires the 
fair presentation of the effects of 
transactions, other events and 
conditions in accordance with the 
definitions and recognition criteria for 
assets, liabilities, income and expenses 
set out in the International Accounting 
Standards Board’s “Framework for 
the Preparation and Presentation of 
Financial Statements”. In virtually all 
circumstances, a fair presentation will 
be achieved by compliance with all 
applicable IFRS. 

Directors are also required to:

 —  select suitable accounting policies 

and apply them consistently;
 —  make judgments and estimates  
that are reasonable and prudent;
 —  state whether applicable accounting 
standards have been followed, 
subject to any material departures 
disclosed and explained in the 
financial statements;

 —  present information, including 

accounting policies, in a manner 
that provides relevant, reliable, 
comparable and understandable 
information;

 —  provide additional disclosures 
when compliance with specific 
requirements in IFRS is insufficient 
to enable users to understand the 
impact of particular transactions, 
other events and conditions on 
the entity’s financial position and 
financial performance; and

 —  prepare the financial statements on 
the going concern basis unless it is 
inappropriate to presume that the 
Company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for 
keeping adequate accounting records 
which disclose with reasonable 
accuracy at any time the financial 
position of the Group and of the 
Company, for safeguarding the assets, 
for taking reasonable steps for the 
prevention and detection of fraud 
and other irregularities and for the 
preparation of a Directors’ Report and 
Directors’ Remuneration Report which 
comply with the requirements of the 
Companies Act 2006.

The directors are responsible for the 
maintenance and integrity of the Group 
website. Legislation in the United 
Kingdom governing the preparation 
and dissemination of the financial 
statements may differ from legislation  
in other jurisdictions. 

Directors’ statement of responsibility  
for financial statements
Each of the directors serving at the  
date of approval of the accounts 
confirms that, to the best of his 
knowledge and belief:

 —  the financial statements, which have 
been prepared in accordance with 
IFRS as adopted by the European 
Union, give a true and fair view of the 
assets, liabilities, financial position 
and financial performance of the 
Group and Company; and

 —  the Chairman’s Statement, the 
Business Review, the Financial 
Review and the Directors’ Report give 
a fair review of the Group, together 
with a description of the principal 
risks and uncertainties that the 
Group faces.

The responsibility statement was 
approved by the Board of Directors  
on 9 April 2014.

The Companies Act 2006 requires the 
auditors to report to the shareholders 
on certain parts of the Director’s 
Remuneration Report and to state 
whether, in their opinion; those parts 
of the report have been properly 
prepared in accordance with the 
Regulations. The parts of the annual 
report on remuneration that are subject 
to audit are indicated in that report. 
The statement by the Chairman of the 
Remuneration Committee and the 
policy report are not subject to audit.

Policy report
The Company’s policy in relation to 
executive directors remains unchanged 
from prior financial years and is 
designed to attain, retain and motivate 
individuals of the calibre and expertise  
to manage the Group’s strategic plans 
and lead the management team. 
The policy is designed to achieve 
strategically stretching goals as  
well as aligning their interests to 
shareholders and stakeholders alike. 
The Committee seeks to ensure that  
the Company’s remuneration system 
and policy encourage value creation  
for shareholders, promote responsible 
and safe practices and maintain  
a demonstrably fair relationship  
between pay and performance.

Introduction

Process
This report is on the activities of  
the Remuneration Committee for  
the period to 31 January 2014.  
It sets out the remuneration policy  
and remuneration details for the 
executive and non-executive directors 
of the company. This is the first time  
the Company has prepared this report  
in accordance with the Large and 
Medium Sized Companies and Groups 
(Accounts and Reports) (Amendment) 
Regulations 2013; the Companies Act 
2006 and meets the requirements 
of the Financial Conduct Authority’s 
Listing Rules. A resolution to approve 
the report will be proposed at the 
2014 Annual General Meeting of 
the Company at which the financial 
statements will be approved.

The report has been divided into 
separate sections for audited and 
unaudited information and is split into 
three main areas; the statement by the 
Chair of the Remuneration Committee, 
the annual report on remuneration and 
the policy report. The policy report has 
been approved by the Board and will  
be subject to a binding shareholder 
vote at the 2014 Annual General 
Meeting on 5 June and will take effect 
on the day following. The annual report 
on remuneration has been approved 
by the Board and provides details on 
remuneration in the period and some 
other information required by the 
Regulations. It will be subject to an 
advisory shareholder vote at the  
2014 Annual General Meeting.

Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

37

Annual statement  
of the Chairman  
of Remuneration Committee

Key Activities of the Committee during 
the 18 months accounting period to  
31 January 2014

I am pleased to present the 
remuneration committee’s report  
on director’s remuneration for  
the period ended 31 January 2014. 
The information set out on pages 49  
to 53 of this Directors’ Remuneration 
Report represents the auditable 
disclosures referred to in the  
Auditor’s report on pages 65 to 66  
as specified by the UK Listing  
Authority and the Regulations

The Remuneration Committee’s 
philosophy for remuneration remains 
to attract and retain leaders who are 
focussed and encouraged to deliver 
business transformation, develop a 
sustainable, profitable business and 
increase shareholder value. 

Our policy is unchanged from that in 
force in prior financial years and will 
take effect from the day following the 
Annual General Meeting on 5 June 
2014 and will operate for up to three 
years. Future reviews of future business 
and remuneration strategies during 
this three year period may alter the 
policy. If such alterations are deemed 
by the Remuneration Committee to be 
significant, the policy will be submitted 
to the next available General Meeting 
for shareholder approval.

 —  The Remuneration of the Executive 
Directors is reviewed annually to be 
effective from 1 August to ensure that 
the packages offered are effective  
in promoting the Company’s 
business strategy.

 —  The Committee also determines the 
extent to which the performance 
measures in respect of the incentives 
plan have been achieved.
 —  Bonus targets are set for each 

year following the approval of the 
financial budget. 

 —  The 2012 Share Option Plan  

and the LTIP were approved by 
shareholders at the AGM held in 
2012. The Committee has approved 
awards under these schemes.

 —  Compensation package for  

Gavin Charles.

 —  Consideration of the remuneration 
package for the recruitment of  
the CFO

Grahame Chilton
Chairman, Remuneration Committee

Remuneration policy table
The table below sets out a summary of Air Partner’s 
future remuneration policy for executive directors.

Remuneration  
Element

Purpose and link to 
remuneration policy

Key features  
and operation

Maximum  
potential value

Paid in cash

 Normally reviewed annually 
to take effect on 1 August but 
exceptionally may take place 
at other times of the year;

 In determining base salaries, 
the committee considers;
 —  Pay levels at companies of a 
similar size and complexity
 —  External market conditions
 —  Pay and conditions 

elsewhere in the Group
 —  Personal performance

In determining pension 
arrangements, the Committee 
takes into account relevant 
market practice.

The scheme is defined 
contribution.

A salary sacrifice scheme is 
in operation for executive 
directors

Bonuses are non 
-pensionable

Executive directors can 
receive life assurance, health 
insurance, car allowance, 
income protection, critical 
illness cover and sports club 
or gym membership

Base salary

 Supports the recruitment and 
retention of executive directors 
of the calibre required to fulfill 
the role without paying more 
than is necessary to do so

 Rewards executives for the 
performance of their role

 Reflects the individual skills, 
experience and role within  
the Group

Pension

 Provides funds to allow 
executives to save for 
retirement

 Provides a market competitive 
retirement benefit

 Incentive and retention tool

Benefits in 
kind

 To provide a market 
competitive level of  
benefits to executive  
directors

Relocation 
/ expatriate 
assistance

Assistance to executive 
directors who are required 
to work away from their 
home location to enable the 
Company to recruit the best 
person for the role

Performance  
metrics

Provision for claw  
back or withholding  
of payment

N/A

None

 The Committee’s policy 
is to set base salary at an 
appropriate level taking 
into account the factors 
outlined in this table there 
is no maximum value

N/A

None

 CEO receives a company 
contribution of 12.0% 

CFO receives a company 
contribution of 12.0%

There is no  
maximum value

N/A

None

N/A

None

Assistance will include (but 
not limited to) facilitating or 
meeting the costs of obtaining 
visas or work permits for 
executive directors and their 
immediate family, removal 
and other relocation costs, 
house purchase or rental 
costs, limited amount of 
travel costs, tax equalization 
arrangements

There are a number of 
variables affecting the 
amount that may be 
payable, but the  
Committee would pay 
no more than it judged 
reasonably necessary.  
The maximum amount 
payable shall not exceed 
£50,000 per individual  
in any financial year

 
 
Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

39

Remuneration  
Element

Purpose and link to 
remuneration policy

Key features  
and operation

Maximum  
potential value

Performance  
metrics

Annual bonus

Paid in cash following 
announcement of 
financial year results

Bonuses are not 
pensionable

Rewards and 
incentivises the 
achievement of annual 
financial objectives 
which are aligned 
with key strategic 
goals and supports 
the enhancement of 
shareholder value

Maximum opportunity  
to achieve:
—  CEO: 110.5% 
 of base salary
—  CFO: 82.975%  
of base salary

Bonus accrues from 
threshold levels of 
performance

Awards vest after three 
years based on Group 
financial targets

Maximum plan award 
of 150% of base salary

Awards are in  
the form of nil-cost 
shares and must  
be exercised  
within four  
years of vesting

Usual award levels 
will be:
—  CEO: 100 to 150%  
of base salary
—  CFO: 75 to 100%  
of base salary

Long Term 
Incentive Plan 
(“LTIP”)

Incentivises executives 
to achieve Air Partner’s 
long-term strategy  
and create sustainable 
shareholder value

Enhances shareholder 
value by motivating 
growth in earnings 
and maintenance 
of an efficient and 
sustainable level  
of return of capital

Aligns with shareholder 
interests through the 
delivery of shares

CEO bonus payment  
based on:
—  KRA: 30% based 
on performance 
towards Key Result 
Areas defined at the 
beginning of each 
financial year;

—  Company 

performance: 70% 
based on financial 
metrics

CFO bonus payment  
based on:
—  KRA: 30% based 
on performance 
towards Key Result 
Areas defined at the 
beginning of each 
financial year;

—  Company performance: 
70% based on financial 
metrics

LTIP award vesting is 
subject to a combination 
of 50% EPS and 50% TSR

TSR :
—  100% vest if 

performance greater 
than 75th percentile
—  Proportionate vesting 
where performance 
falls between the 50th 
and 75th percentile 
rankings

EPS :
—  100% vest if 

performance greater 
than RPI + 10%

—  Proportionate vesting 
where performance 
between the RPI + 5% 
pa and RPI + 10% pa 
growth

Provision for claw  
back or withholding  
of payment

Bonus is usually not  
paid to a good leaver 
should they leave  
before the payment  
date of said bonus

As per the Rules  
of the scheme  
awards will lapse  
if the executive leaves 
before the end of the 
Performance Period

Committee has  
discretion in certain 
circumstances  
(for example death, 
serious illness, 
redundancy) to  
permit an award  
to vest before  
the end of the  
Performance Period 

Key to charts
 —  Salary, benefits in kind and pension 
(as per the remuneration policy)  
are shown as estimated cash cost  
or taxable value to the individual
 —  Air Partner’s bonus schemes operate 
so that amounts in respect of the 
current financial period are only 
paid in the following financial year, 
after the completion of the audit 
and Board approval of the accounts. 
The charts reflect the accrual in the 
accounts earned in the period and 
not necessarily the actual amount 
paid in the period.

 —  Bonus at below threshold 

performance reflects a position 
where none of the personal or 
corporate metrics where achieved at 
threshold level; expectation reflects 
metrics achieved at target level and 
maximum reflects the position where 
every metric is achieved at stretch  
up to the amount of the bonus cap.

 —  LTIP awards are made in the year 

but do not normally vest until three 
years after award. The charts reflect 
the value at the strike price of the 
award made during the financial 
period varied according to company 
performance alone.

Three scenarios are illustrated  
for each executive director. 

CEO and CFO
Maximum 
 —  fixed pay plus full vesting of all 

performance related pay;

At expectation
 —  fixed pay plus short and long-term 
performance related pay vesting at  
the levels reasonably expected; and

Minimum 
 —  only fixed pay (salary, benefits in 
kind and pension) is payable and 
no short or long term performance-
related pay accrues.

Please note that the following 
information is indicative and not final, 
although will be agreed in due course.

Remuneration outcomes in  
different performance scenarios
The charts below set out an illustration 
of the remuneration policy for 2014. 
The charts provide an illustration of 
the proportion of total remuneration 
made up of each component of the 
remuneration policy and the value  
of each component.

The bonus scheme for senior  
executives was introduced in 
September 2010 and is  
based on on-target performance.  
The first 30% of the on-target  
bonus depends on individual 
achievement in Key Responsibility  
Areas (KRAs), determined each  
year by the Remuneration Committee.  
The remaining 70% is linked to 
corporate performance, evidenced 
by the reported underlying profit of 
the Group, excluding discontinued 
and exceptional items. Company 
outperformance is rewarded for  
each 1% above target profit, up to  
a maximum amount of the original  
profit target.

LTIP (performance 
and matching 
performance  

CEO  
£’000

CFO  
£’000

Annual bonus

Fixed pay

Minimum At 

expectation

Maximum

Minimum At 

expectation

Maximum

494

518
0%

46%

48%

269

100%

54%

52%

550

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

550

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

245

40%

255
0%

42%

148

100%

60%

58%

Future policy – Non-executive directors

Remuneration element

Fees

Purpose and link to remuneration policy

Fees for non-executive directors are set at an 
appropriate level to recruit and retain directors 
of a sufficient calibre without paying more 
than is necessary to do so. Fees are set taking 
into account the following factors; the time 
commitment required to fulfil the role, typical 
practice at other companies of a similar size 
and salary levels of employees throughout  
the Group.

Key features and operation 
(including maximum levels)

The non-executive director fees policy is;
—  to pay a basic fee for membership  

of the Board

—  additional fees for chairmanship  

of the Board and 

—  chairmanship of a committee to take  

into account the additional responsibilities 
and time commitment of these roles.

Fees are reviewed at appropriate levels at 
appropriate intervals (normally once every 
year) by the Board. There is no increase  
in fees planned for 2014.

Air Partner’s current fee policy is as follows:
—  Basic fee – £30,000
—  Board Chairman – £30,000
—  Committee Chairman – £5,000

Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

41

Policy provisions relating to  
directors’ remuneration

Such discretion for those key areas  
are detailed as follows;

Flexibility, discretion and judgment
Every attempt has been made to ensure 
that the majority of situations and 
scenarios that may arise in relation 
to director remuneration have been 
covered in this policy. However, there 
may be times when the Remuneration 
Committee may need a level of 
discretion, judgment or flexibility to 
achieve a fair result. Discretion will be 
required at times where changes to 
business requirements require short 
term incentives to drive appropriate 
behaviours and incentivise. Judgment 
and flexibility may also be needed in 
downgrading, as well as upgrading, 
certain remuneration elements there 
by permitting the Committee to adapt 
to changing situations. Although 
the Committee will maintain a strict 
adherence to the three year policy 
whenever possible, the requirement 
to engage with shareholders each and 
every time a short time measure is 
required can be onerous in time and 
expense. It remains a commitment of 
the Committee to maintain engagement 
with shareholders throughout the 
three year life and, where appropriate, 
formally engage them in placing a 
revised policy to a General Meeting  
for approval before the three year 
period expires.

 —  Bonus – Bonus programmes for 

executive directors are unique and 
tailored to their respective roles 
with performance criteria aligned 
to the needs of the Company and 
shareholders. Maximum bonuses 
are capped for the CEO and CFO at 
110.5% and 82.975% respectively. 
The Committee will have the discretion 
(1) to alter the performance criteria 
each year as progress is made 
towards the Group’s strategy  
and the needs of the Group (but in 
no event to exceed the maximum 
capped bonus stated in the policy 
table above without reference to 
shareholders in General Meeting), 
(2) in relation to leavers as provided 
for in the policy table and (3) on a 
change of control of the Company,  
to determine the amount of bonus  
for that year taking into account  
such factors it considers appropriate, 
including performance and time-
apportionment and any additional 
terms which may apply to such 
payment, and (4) whether to settle 
bonus awards in cash or shares.

 —  LTIP – Committee will have the 

discretion (1) to determine who is  
to participate each year in the plan 
and the levels of award to be made 
(but not to exceed the levels stated  
in the LTIP Rules), (2) to set or alter 
the performance criteria at the outset 
of each award, (3) in relation to 
leavers as provided for in the policy 
table, and (4) on a change of control 
of the Company, to determine the 
level of vesting of awards taking into 
account performance and such other 
factors as the Committee believes to  
be relevant.

 —  Relocation / expatriate assistance – 
as provided for in the policy table up 
to a maximum amount payable not  
to exceed £50,000 per individual in 
any financial year.

 —  Make payment proposals on hiring 
a new executive director which are 
outside the standard policy but as 
restricted and stipulated below 
under Recruitment remuneration 
arrangements.

Recruitment remuneration 
arrangements
In the event that the Company recruits 
a new executive director (either from 
within the organisation or externally) 
when determining appropriate 
remuneration arrangements, the 
Committee will take into consideration 
all relevant factors (including but 
not limited to quantum, the type of 
remuneration being offered and the 
jurisdiction the candidate was recruited 
from) to ensure that arrangements 
are in the best interests of both the 
Company and its shareholders without 
paying more than is necessary to recruit 
an executive of the required calibre.

The Committee would generally seek to 
align the remuneration package offered 
with Air Partner’s remuneration policy 
outlined in the table above. 

However, the Committee retains the 
discretion to make:
 —  proposals on hiring a new executive 

Executive director service contracts
Each of the service contracts for 
executive directors:

director which are outside the 
standard policy. In the first year 
of appointment, the Committee 
may offer additional remuneration 
arrangements that it considers 
appropriate and necessary to  
recruit and retain the individual  
but shall not be offered in successive 
years. Such remuneration may be 
made in the form of cash or share 
based awards which may vest 
immediately or at a future point 
in time. Vesting may be subject to 
performance conditions selected  
by the Committee.

 —   awards on appointing an executive 
director to “buy-out” remuneration 
arrangements forfeited on leaving  
a previous employer. In doing so  
the Committee will take account  
of relevant factors attached to  
these awards, the form in which  
they were granted (e.g. cash or 
shares) and the time frame over 
which they would have vested. 
Generally buy-out awards will be 
made on a comparable basis to  
those forfeited.

 —  in the event of recruitment, the 

Committee may also grant awards 
to a new executive director under 
Listing Rule 9.4.2 which allows for 
the granting of awards, specifically to 
facilitate, in unusual circumstances, 
the recruitment or retention of an 
executive director, without seeking 
prior shareholder approval.

 No sign-on payments will be made to 
non-executive directors nor shall they 
be offered share options or LTIPs.

Mark Briffa entered into a service 
agreement with the Company dated 
8 February 2012. His agreement is 
terminable by either party giving 
not less than 12 months’ written 
notice. If the Company terminates 
employment without due notice, 
other than in circumstances such as 
gross misconduct or other immediate 
justifiable causes, the Company is 
required to make a payment equal 
to the aggregate of the executive 
director’s basic salary and the value of 
any contractual benefits for the notice 
period including any accrued but 
untaken holiday.

Gavin Charles entered into a service 
agreement with the Company on  
23 June 2010. His agreement will be 
terminated by the Company on 1 May 
2014 without due notice. The Company 
is therefore required to make a payment 
equal to the aggregate of the executive 
director’s basic salary and the value of 
any contractual benefits for the notice 
period including any accrued but 
untaken holiday. 

The Remuneration Committee generally 
seeks to apply practical mitigation 
in respect of termination payments 
where appropriate. Under terms of 
reference agreed in September 2010, 
any ex-gratia payments made at 
the discretion of the Remuneration 
Committee in excess of statutory or 
contractual obligations will be limited 
to an amount not exceeding one year’s 
bonus plus legal fees, so long as such 
fees do not exceed £5,000.

The service agreements are held at the 
registered office and are available to 
shareholders to view on request from 
the Company Secretary.

Executive director services contracts 

Director 

M Briffa 
G Charles 

Date of service 
contract 

8 Feb 2012 
23 Jun 2010 

Date of  
 appointment 

Unexpired term 
at 31 Jan 2014 

Notice 
period

1 Jan 2005 
29 Jul 2010 

12 months 
12 months 

12 months
12 months

 
Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

43

New letters of appointment were 
issued in September 2011 to Mr Mack 
and Mr Pollard, aligning their terms 
of appointment with those agreed for 
Mr Wood in June 2011. The new letters 
confirm a standard term of three years, 
renewable once by mutual consent  
and, in exceptional circumstances,  
by one further period, such that no  
non-executive director may serve  
for a period of more than nine years. 

All appointments are subject to the 
Company’s Articles of Association and 
annual re-election by shareholders.

Terms and conditions for the Chairman 
and non-executive directors
Richard Everitt was appointed as a 
non-executive director of the Company 
on 1 January 2005. Mr Everitt’s letter of 
appointment was updated following 
his appointment as Chairman on 
9 February 2012 and his initial 
appointment was for a maximum  
period of three years ending on  
8 February 2015.

The Chairman’s appointment may 
be terminated by the Company 
in accordance with the letter of 
appointment giving three months’ 
notice, the Company’s Articles of 
Association or the Companies Act 
2006. In the event of early termination 
of contract, there will be no payment 
for loss of office or for the unexpired 
appointment term. In addition to 
the time commitment, the annual 
engagement fee and other business 
interests, the Chairman is entitled to 
hold other directorships provided  
such appointment does not interfere 
with his position at the Company.

The non-executive directors have 
letters of appointment from the 
Company covering matters such as 
duties, time commitment, fees and 
other business interests. The non-
executive directors are appointed for 
an initial three year period which may 
be renewed once by mutual consent.  
In exceptional circumstances, one 
further extension may be agreed, but 
no Non-Executive Director may serve 
for a period of more than nine years 
from their date of appointment.

Non-executive director appointments 
may be terminated by the Company 
in accordance with the letter of 
appointment giving three months’ 
notice, the Company’s Articles of 
Association or the Companies Act 
2006. In the event of early termination 
of contract, there will be no payment 
for loss of office or for unexpired 
appointment term. In addition to 
the time commitment, the annual 
engagement fee and other business 
interests, the non Executive Directors 
are entitled to hold other directorships 
provided such appointment does  
not interfere with their position  
at the Company. 

Non-executive directors’ Letters of Appointment 

Director 

R L Everitt 
A G Mack 
C W Pollard 
A R Wood 
G Chilton 

Date of  
initial letter 

Date of 
appointment 

Term 

9 Feb 2012 
18 Mar 2008 
2 Jul 2009 
7 Jun 2011 
25 July 2013 

9 Feb 2012 
1 Apr 2008 
6 Jul 2009 
7 Jun 2011 
31 July 2013 

3 years 
5 years 
6 years 
3 years 
3 years 

Unexpired 
term at  
31 Jan 2014 

1 y 0 m 
0 y 3 m 
1 y 6 m 
0 y 5 m 
2 y 6 m 

Notice 
period 

3 months
3 months
3 months
3 months
3 months

Non-executive directors’  
Letters of Appointment
The Company intends to have at least 
two independent non-executives on the 
Board at any time. The Board considers 
each of Mr Everitt, Mr Pollard, Mr Wood 
and Mr Chilton to be independent. 

No director has any direct or indirect 
interest in any contract or arrangement 
subsisting at the date of these financial 
statements which is significant in 
relation to the business of the Group 
and which has not otherwise been 
disclosed.

Policy on payment for loss of office
Notice periods set in executive 
directors service contracts are driven 
by the need to protect shareholder 
value and interests. As noted above, 
both executive directors have notice 
periods of twelve months. A bonus 
is not usually paid to a good leaver 
should they leave before the payment 
date of said bonus and there is no 
mechanism for claw back. 

The principles on which the 
determination for payments on 
termination will be approached  
are as follows:
 —  service contracts legally oblige the 
Company to either continue to  
pay salary and pension allowances 
and other contractual benefits 
for any unworked notice period 
or, at the option of the Company, 
to make payment in lieu of notice 
unless where an executive 
director’s employment is summarily 
terminated. The committee reserves 
the right to make discretionary 
payments in lieu of notice which  
may be paid in a lump sum,  
quarterly or monthly;

 —  the payment of a performance 
bonus and/or other short term 
incentives may be offered to the 
departing executive director during 
his/her notice period, based on 
an assessment of personal and 
corporate performance up to the  
date of departure. Bonuses will  
not be paid for any unworked  
period of notice;

 —  where a role fulfilled by an executive 
director is declared redundant 
then the individual may have 
the legal right to either statutory 
redundancy pay or to a payment 
under the Group’s normal severance 
arrangements applicable to 
employees generally;

 —  in case of poor performance, 

contractual termination payments 
may generate undue and potentially 
excessive reward, in such 
circumstances, the Remuneration 
Committee will consider terminating 
a service contract on a fair basis, 
whilst protecting the rights of  
the Company;

 —  payments for loss of office as a 
director of Air Partner plc or any  
of its subsidiaries will not be paid;

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

45

The Company’s various incentive 
schemes are governed by formal 
rules, all of which have been approved 
by shareholders. Directors have no 
contractual rights to the value inherent 
in any awards held under these plans 
and these plans provide for vesting in 
different leaver scenarios.

If employment is terminated by the 
Company, the departing executive may 
have a legal entitlement (under statute 
or otherwise) to additional amounts, 
which would need to be met. The 
Committee retains discretion to settle 
any other amounts reasonably due 
to the executive where the Company 
wishes to enter into a settlement 
agreement. In certain circumstances, 
the Committee may approve new 
contractual arrangements with 
departing executives, potentially 
including settlement, confidentiality, 
restrictive covenants and/or 
consultancy arrangements. These will 
only be used where the Committee 
believes it is in the best interests of  
the Company. 

Consideration of employee  
remuneration arrangements
Air Partner employs a number of 
colleagues in a variety of roles, from 
administration support staff and 
brokers to senior management and 
directors across a range of geographies. 
Its reward structure for all employees 
is built around a set of common reward 
principles on a framework altered to 
suit the needs of the business for our 
different employee groups across the 
Company. Reward packages therefore 
differ, taking into account a number of 
factors including seniority, impact on 
the business, local practice, custom 
and legislation.

The remuneration policy for the 
executive directors reflects the  
overall remuneration philosophy  
and principles of the wider Group.  
When determining remuneration  
policy and arrangements for  
executive directors, the Remuneration  
Committee consider the wider  
pay and employment conditions 
elsewhere in the Group to ensure 
pay structures from director to senior 
management are appropriately aligned.

When considering salary increases  
for the executive directors, the 
Committee considers the general level 
of salary increase across the Group. 
Typically, salary increases will be 
aligned with those received elsewhere 
in the Group unless the Committee 
considers that specific circumstances 
require a different level of increase for 
executive directors. 

Considering shareholder views
The Committee is dedicated to an 
on-going dialogue with shareholders 
and seeks shareholder views when  
any significant charges are being made 
to remuneration arrangements.  
Over the last few years the Committee 
has consulted shareholders regarding 
the implementation of the 2012 
Share Option Scheme and 2012 Long 
Term Incentive Plan and applicable 
performance measures.

Air Partner employs a number  
of colleagues in a variety of roles, 
from administration support 
staff and brokers to senior 
management and directors 
across a range of geographies. 

““Remuneration Committee structure
The Remuneration Committee is 
constituted as a formal sub-committee 
of the Board with its own defined Terms 
of Reference. Its primary role is to review 
and set the remuneration policy for the 
executive directors, within the context 
of salaries and benefits paid across the 
Group as a whole. The full Board agrees 
the remuneration of the Chairman and 
non-executive directors on the principle 
that no individual should be able to 
determine their own remuneration. 

All the non-executive directors  
were members of the Committee  
for the whole year, with the exception  
of Grahame Chilton who was appointed 
in July 2013. The Committee is chaired 
by Grahame Chilton who, upon  
his appointment, succeeded  
Andrew Wood.

The Committee can, and did obtain 
information and advice during the period 
under review from the the Group  
HR Director, the Company Secretary,  
the executive directors and may seek 
advice from any other employees as 
required. It may also obtain, at the 
expense of the Company, any necessary 
legal or professional advice, up to a  
pre-determined limit but has not needed 
to do so in the year under review. 

Individual components  
of remuneration

Share options
Share options were awarded at the 
Remuneration Committee’s discretion 
under the Company Share Option 
Plan which was first approved by 
shareholders in 2003. This plan is now 
closed and no further grants of options 
may be made under this scheme.

Exercises of options by staff below 
director level and exercises of all 
options granted before 24 May 2010 
are subject only to a service condition. 
Options vest three years from the date 
of grant and expire if not exercised 
within ten years, except in exceptional 
circumstances such as the death of the 
holder. All outstanding options lapse 
upon cessation of employment,  
unless there are special circumstances 
such as redundancy or retirement  
when options must be exercised within  
a six month period. Options may not  
be granted at a discount and the 
aggregate market price for options 
awarded during any one year period 
may not exceed four times the 
individual’s relevant emoluments. 

The vesting of options granted to 
directors on or after 24 May 2010 is 
subject to additional performance 
criteria intended to align directors’ 
interests with those of investors. 

A maximum of 80% of the options 
awarded may vest in 2013 if growth  
in the Group’s undiluted earnings  
per share from continuing operations 
(EPS) has increased by 33% over a 
period of approximately three years. 
Half of this number of options will  
vest if EPS over the same period has 
increased by 22.5%, with a sliding scale 
for growth between 22.5% and 33%. 
None of these options will vest if EPS 
has grown by less than 22.5% over the 
period. The initial measurement of EPS 
was taken from the annual accounts 
of the Company to 31 July 2010 and 
options may vest if the performance 
conditions have been satisfied by 
reference to the annual accounts  
of the Company as at  
31 July 2013. 

The remaining 20% of options shall  
vest completely if underlying profit 
before tax from activities outside the 
UK has increased by 50% over the same 
three year period. This target has been 
set to align with the Group’s stated 
business objective to increase its 
geographical diversification.

In respect of the grants of options made 
on 26 October 2010, 80% of the options 
granted will vest if EPS has grown over 
the three year period from 26.8 pence to 
35.7 pence. None of these options will 
vest if EPS after three years does  
not exceed 32.8 pence. 

Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

47

The Remuneration Committee  
is constituted as a formal  
sub-committee of the Board with  
its own defined Terms of Reference.

Options granted on 20 April 2012 will 
vest if the following criteria are met 
over a three year period ending 2015;

1  Vesting of 50% of the options 

granted will depend on 
outperformance of Air Partner plc’s 
Total Shareholder Return relative  
to the FTSE UK Small Cap Index,  
ex Investment Trusts (the “Index”). 
 —  No options will vest if TSR 

outperformance is less than  
the equivalent of 5% per annum 
(compounded) relative to  
the Index.

 —  If TSR outperformance is the 
equivalent of 5% per annum 
(compounded) relative to 
the Index, half of the number 
of options subject to this 
performance condition will vest.

 —  If TSR outperformance is the 

equivalent of 10% per annum 
(compounded) relative to the 
Index, all of the options subject 
to this performance condition 
will vest. 

 —  Options will vest on a sliding 
scale if TSR outperformance  
is between 5% and 10%.

2  The remaining options granted will 
vest if underlying profit before tax 
(“PBT”) for the financial year ending  
31 July 2015 exceeds twice the 
underlying PBT for the financial year 
ending 31 July 2012 or £6 million, 
whichever is the higher. None of  
these options shall vest if PBT for  
the financial year ending 31 July 2015  
is below £6 million. 

Grants of options will generally 
be made within 42 days of the 
announcement of annual or half yearly 
results and the base measurement  
for EPS will be that shown in the  
annual or half yearly accounts of the 
Company most recently published.  
The Remuneration Committee must  
be satisfied at the time of vesting  
that the underlying performance  
of the Company justifies the vesting.  
No options may vest until the 
Committee has written to participants  
to confirm that the necessary 
conditions have been fulfilled.

At the AGM in 2012, shareholders 
approved a new share option scheme. 
Under the 2012 Scheme options  
may be granted to eligible employees 
(including executive directors) within 
the Air Partner Group, subject to defined 
limits. There is no present intention 
of granting options to the executive 
directors of Air Partner plc but if that 
position changes the performance 
conditions set out below will be 
reconsidered to ensure they remain 
appropriate. The 2012 Scheme will 
comply with the institutional guidelines 
relating to employee share incentives. 
Appropriate reference will be made 
to the Company’s Remuneration 
Committee (comprising only  
non-executive directors who are 
ineligible to participate in the 
2012 Scheme) with regard to the 
establishment of performance 
conditions at the time (or shortly before) 
options are granted. These performance 
conditions, which must be met prior to 
the exercise of the options, will be  
designed so that they will only be  
met in the event of a significant 
and sustained improvement in the 
underlying financial performance  
of the Company. It is intended that,  
the first one third of the number of 
shares placed under option to any 
individual will vest if the Company’s 
underlying basic earnings per share 
increases over a fixed period of three 
consecutive financial years by an 
average of at least 3% per annum in 
excess of inflation over the same period 
as measured by reference to the Retail 
Prices Index (“RPI”). Vesting of the full 
number of shares under option will be 
subject to meeting an increased target  
of RPI + 7% per annum over that 
period with straight line vesting in 
between. There will be no re-testing 
of performance conditions if they are 
not met by the end of the relevant 
performance period.

““In respect of the grants of LTIPs made on 
22 October 2013, 25% of LTIPs granted 
will vest if EPS has grown over the three 
year period by 5% + RPI. 100% of LTIPs 
granted will vest if EPS has grown over 
the three year period by 10% + RPI. For 
intermediate performance between RPI 
+ 5%pa and RPI + 10% pa vesting will 
occur on a straight-line basis. 

Long term incentives
Long term incentives are awarded  
at the Remuneration Committee’s 
discretion under the Air Partner Long 
Term Incentive Plan 2012 (“LTIP”) which 
was approved by shareholders in 2012.

Awards made under the LTIP will be 
subject to performance conditions 
based on Total Shareholder Return 
(“TSR”) and Earnings per Share (“EPS”) 
as, in the view of the Committee,  
these remain key performance 
indicators of the business.

Individual limits will normally be 
restricted to 100% of basic salary per 
annum. However, in circumstances 
considered by the Remuneration 
Committee to be exceptional, the 
limit may be increased to 150% of 
basic salary on a non-recurring basis. 
These are the maximum annual limits 
and the actual level of awards will be 
considered each year by the Committee 
before they are made. The vesting of 
awards will be subject to challenging 
TSR and EPS performance conditions 
being achieved over a minimum period 
of three years. 

Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

49

Remuneration report for the 
eighteen month period to  
31 January 2014

(Audited)

Salary

Taxable  
benefits

Bonus

2014
£

2012
£

2014
£

2012
£

2014
£

2012
£

Gain in vesting of
share option

2014
£

2012
£

276,032

182,500

3,237

2,870

283,080

41,975

61,000

211,750

140,000

4,173

2,877

154,818

24,507

8,600

–

–

Mark 
Briffa

Gavin 
Charles

Total

Pension

Total

2014
£

2012
£

2014
£

2012
£

33,124

21,900

656,473

249,245

25,410

16,800

404,751

184,184

487,782

322,500

7,410

5,747

437,898

66,482

69,600

–

58,534

38,700

1,061,224

433,429

Executive director remuneration 
(audited)

The table above sets out the fees payable 
to each director performing an executive 
function for the financial period.

The resultant percentages against 
each of the bonus measures achieved 
by each Executive Director are shown 
below:

 —  Salary and fees – the executive 
directors received a 2.5% pay 
increase in the period

 —  Taxable benefits – executive 

directors receive a benefits package 
including life assurance, subsidised 
gym membership, home telephone 
and internet facility. 

 —  Bonus – the maximum bonus for 

the period for the CEO is capped at 
110.5% and for the CFO at 82.975%

 —  Long term incentives – an award 
under The Air Partner Long Term 
Share Incentive Plan 2012 was 
made to both executive directors 
in the period and are subject to 
performance and continued  
service conditions.

 —  Pension related benefit – both 

executive directors are members  
of the Air Partner Pension Scheme  
(a defined contribution scheme).
 —  Included in the bonus figures for  
Mr Briffa is an accrual for the  
period to 31 January 2014 of  
£90,725 and for Mr Charles of 
£52,198. The bonuses in respect 
of Mr Briffa are based upon the 
achievement of  83.3% of KRA 
and 100 % in respect of corporate 
performance and Mr Charles upon 
the achievement of 91.7% of KRA 
and 100% in respect of corporate 
performance.

Mark Briffa 
% of performance  
target achieved 
 Aug 12 – 
July 13 
26  
78  

Aug 13 –  
Jan 14 
27* 
72* 

Gavin Charles
% of performance 
 target achieved
Aug 12 – 
July 13
15
59

 Aug 13 – 
Jan 14 
21* 
53* 

Measure 

Key Responsibility Area 
Company Performance 

* Accrued

 
 
 
 
 
In the year ended 31 July 2012 there  
was a pay freeze in operation in the  
UK and therefore the CEO did not 
receive a salary increase. In July 2013 
the average pay increase in the UK  
was 2.5%, which was also awarded  
to the CEO.

Payment table of employee wages and other company metrics

Total employee pay compared  
to prior period (£m)  
Profit before tax (£m) 
Total dividends paid (pence) 

2012–2014* 

2011–2012 

% variance

 19,875  
4,156  
32.75  

12,602 
4,139 
16.5 

57.7
0.4
98.5

* Eighteen month period (1 August 2012 – 31 January 2014)

Performance graph and CEO 
remuneration table
To help investors to measure Air 
Partner’s comparative performance,  
the graph below shows the change 
in the total shareholder return of 
the Company for each of the last five 
financial years compared with  
the FTSE All Share Index.

Air Partner is not currently a constituent 
member of the FTSE All Share Index 
but the Index has been selected as an 
appropriate comparator because it 
is easily accessible by investors and 
covers the performance of a broad 
range of companies, including aviation, 
transport and luxury retail businesses.

The table right sets out the details  
for the director undertaking the role  
of chief executive officer:

The table right shows the percentage 
change in remuneration of the director 
undertaking the role of chief executive 
officer and the Group’s UK employees 
as a whole between the period ended 
31 January 2014, on an annualised 
basis, and 31 July 2012:

250

225

200

175

150

125

100

75

50

Year 

2014 
2012 
2011 
2010 
2009 

% 

Air Partner and FTSE All Share Index total return (rebased)

Air Partner
FTSE All Share

J
a
n
0
9

A
p
r
0
9

J

u

l

0
9

O
c
t
0
9

J
a
n
1
0

A
p
r

1
0

J

u

l

1
0

O
c
t

1
0

O
c
t

1
0

J
a
n
1
1

A
p
r

1
1

J

u

l

1
1

O
c
t

1
1

J
a
n
1
2

A
p
r

1
2

J

u

l

1
2

O
c
t

1
2

J
a
n
1
3

A
p
r

1
3

J

u

l

1
3

O
c
t

1
3

J
a
n
1
4

CEO single figure 
of total remuneration 

Annual bonus 
against maximum 

£ 

656,473* 
249,245 
368,732 
214,565 
351,735 

Salary 

2.5 

2.5 

Long term incentive 
vesting rates against 
maximum opportunity  
%

66.7
–
–
–
–

£ 

92.8 
16.8 
100.0 
15.0 
22.4 

Benefits 

Annual bonus

– 

– 

358.3

447.7

CEO 
Average pay based on all  
of the Group’s UK employees 

*  18 month period

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

51

Non-executive director  
remuneration 
The table below sets out the fees 
payable to each director not performing 
an executive function for the financial 
period 1 August 2012–31 January 2014.

Non-executive directors do not 
participate in the annual bonus scheme 
or any long term incentive plans.

(Audited)

Date of  
joining

R L Everitt
A G Mack
C W Pollard †
A R Wood
G Chilton **
A J Adams***

Total

10/10/2004
01/04/2008
06/07/2009
07/06/2011
31/07/2013
–

Basic  
fees
£
45,000
45,000
45,000
45,000
15,000
–

Committee 
Chair fee

Board  
Chair fee
£
– 45,000
–
–
–
–
–
15,000
–
2,500
–
–

2014  
*
Total
£
90,000
45,000
45,000
60,000
17,500
–

2012  
Total
£
35,000
30,000
30,000
37,917
–
31,429

195,000

17,500 45,000 257,500 164,346

*  Payments made relate to the eighteen month period to 31 January 2014
** 

 Payments made to G Chilton for the prior year were from the date of his appointment  
31 July 2013

***  Payments made to A J Adams for the year up to the date of his resignation 8 February 2012
 Payments were made monthly to Mr Pollard in US dollars (total $70,821). The total has 
† 
been translated using an exchange rate of $1.5707/£1, set in August 2012. Non-executive 
directors are reimbursed for legitimate business expenses incurred in the performance 
of their duties. Expenses reimbursed to Mr Pollard, including economy air fares to Board 
meetings, amounted to $14,437 in the year to 31 January 2014 (Year to 31 July 2012: $11,636).

(Audited) 

M A Briffa  
G Charles 
R L Everitt 
A G Mack 
C W Pollard 
A R Wood 
G Chilton 

Directors’ beneficial  
interests in shares
The directors who held office during 
the year had the following beneficial 
interests in ordinary shares of 5p  
each in the Company, fully paid up,  
at the beginning and end of the year,  
or as shown:

There were no changes in the directors’ 
beneficial interests in shares between  
31 January 2014 and 9 April 2014  
(being the latest practicable date  
prior to the publication of this report).  
No director has a non-beneficial 
interest in the shares of the Company.

31 January 2014 
 33,061 
– 
5,000 
751,500 
25,000 
10,000 
– 

31 July 2012

 24,600
–
5,000
1,111,567
25,000
10,000 
–

Share options
Non-executive directors are not eligible 
to participate in the Company’s share 
option scheme. Details of the options 
held by executive directors at the 
beginning and end of the year are  
as follows:

Share options (audited)

Name 

Notes 

31 July 
2012 

Granted 

Exercised 

Expired 

Forfeited 

31 July 
2014 

Exercise 
price 

Earliest date 
of exercise 

Expiry date

Number of options

M A Briffa  

G Charles 

(a)  40,000 
(b)  10,000 
(c)  40,000 
  50,000 
  25,000 
  75,000 
  240,000 

  40,000 
  35,000 
  75,000 

 * option vested but not exercised

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
50,000 
– 
– 
50,000  

8,000 
– 
8,000  

– 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

– 
– 

– 
– 
– 
– 
20,000 
– 

40,000 
10,000 
40,000 
– 
5,000 
75,000 
20,000   170,000 

32,000 
– 
32,000  

– 
35,000 
35,000 

21 Nov 2016
792.5p*  21 Nov 2009 
24 Jan 2018
884.0p* 
24 Jan 2011 
545.0p* 
27 Nov 2018
27 Nov 2011 
338.0p   24 May 2013  24 May 2020
26 Oct 2020
392.5p  
20 Apr 2022
277.5p  

26 Oct 2013 
20 Apr 2015 

392.5p 
277.5p 

26 Oct 2013 
20 Apr 2015 

26 Oct 2020
20 Apr 2022

I would like to apologise for the 
inaccuracy in previous Annual Reports 
which stated that the options in 
question had performance conditions 
attached. Following a review of other 
share options in the business I can 
confirm that this was an isolated error.

Options are generally exercisable 
between three and ten years from the 
date of grant, subject to continuing 
service. Exercises of options under 
grants (a) (b) and (c) are not subject  
to any additional performance criteria. 

During the period Mark Briffa  
exercised 50,000 share options 
granted in May 2010. These options 
had historically been disclosed as 
having performance conditions 
attached to them, hence, external legal 
advice clarified that the amendments 
made to the options in November 2010 
to incorporate performance conditions 
were ineffective. Accordingly,  
Mark Briffa was legally able to  
exercise these options in full. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
Directors’  
remuneration report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

53

Long term incentive plan (LTIP) (audited)

Number of LTIP

Name 

M A Briffa 

G Charles 

31 July 
2012 

Granted 

Exercised 

Expired 

Forfeited 

31 July 
2014 

Exercise 
price 

Earliest date 
of exercise 

Expiry date

– 
– 

– 
– 

55,840 
55,840 

28,557 
28,557 

– 
– 

– 
– 

– 
– 

– 
– 

– 
– 

– 
– 

55,840 
55,840 

28,557 
28,557 

0.0p  22 Oct 2016  22 Oct 2020

0.0p  22 Oct 2016  22 Oct 2020

 Share options granted to Mr Charles  
on 26 October 2010 vested on  
26 October 2013; options over 32,000 
lapsed as was the case with options 
over 20,000 granted to Mr Briffa as 
performance criteria attached to this 
grant were not met in full.

The number of shares awarded under 
the LTIP was determined by using the 
closing price of an Air Partner plc share 
on the day preceding the date of grant 
(21 October) as ascertained by the 
Official List which was 502.5p per share.

The market price per share at  
31 January 2014 was 517.5 pence  
(31 July 2012: 242.0 pence) and ranged 
between 620.00 pence and 240.00 
pence during the 18 months period . 
The average price during the 18 months 
period was 378.26 pence per share.

An independent valuation of the fair 
value of options has been carried out. 
Further details are shown in note 21 to 
the financial statements “Share-based 
payments”. 

The Directors’ Remuneration Report 
was approved by the Board on 9 April 
2014 and is signed on its behalf by: 

Grahame Chilton
Chairman of the  
Remuneration Committee

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unaudited pro-forma information
for the year ended 31 January 2014

BASIS OF PREPARATION
During the period, the Group’s accounting reference date was changed from 31 July to 31 January, as described in Note 2  
to the financial statements. Accordingly, and to ensure greater understanding and comparability of the financial performance  
of the Group on a consistent basis, the following pages present ‘unaudited pro-forma’ financial information comprising a  
consolidated income statement, a consolidated statement of comprehensive income, a consolidated statement of changes in equity, 
consolidated statement of financial position and consolidated statement of cash flows and selected notes comparing the financial 
performance for the year ended 31 January 2014 to that for the year ended 31 January 2013.

Management has selected the items for inclusion in the unaudited proforma information on a consistent basis with that presented  
in the Group’s interim report for the 12 month period ended 31 July 2013.

Consolidated income statement (unaudited)
Year End 31 January 2014

Continuing operations 

Revenue 
Cost of sales 
Gross profit 
Administrative expenses  
Operating profit  
Finance income 
Finance expense  
Profit before tax 
Taxation 
Profit for the period 
Attributable to:
 Owners of the parent company  
Earnings per share:
Continuing operations
Basic 
Diluted 
* Before non-trading items (see note P3)

Year ended 31 January 2014
  Non-trading 
items 
£’000 

Underlying* 
£’000  

Total 
£’000 

Underlying* 
£’000  

  Non-trading 
 items 
£’000 

Year ended 31 January 2013

Note 

P2 

P7 

 223,977  
 (200,158) 
 23,819  
 (19,561) 
 4,258  
 21  
 (29) 
 4,250  
 (1,221) 
 3,029  

–  
– 
– 

 (1,420)  
 (1,420)  

– 
 –  
 (1,420)  
 339  
 (1,081)  

 223,977  
 (200,158) 
 23,819  
 (20,981) 
 2,838  
 21  
 (29)  
 2,830  
 (882) 
 1,948  

 209,228  
 (188,146) 
 21,082  
 (17,787) 
 3,295  
 40  
 (5) 
 3,330  
 (1,078) 
 2,252  

– 
– 
–  
 (211) 
 (211) 
– 
 89  
 (122) 
 164  
 42 

Total 
 £’000

 209,228 
(188,146)
 21,082 
(17,998)
 3,084 
 40 
84
 3,208 
(914)
 2,294 

 3,029  

 (1,081)  

 1,948  

 2,252  

 42  

 2,294 

P5 
P5 

 29.8p 
 29.3p 

 (10.6)p 
 (10.5)p 

 19.2p 
 18.8p 

21.9p 
 21.9p 

 0.5p 
 0.5p 

 22.4p
22.4p

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income (unaudited)
Year End 31 January 2014

Profit for the period 
Other comprehensive income – items that may subsequently be reclassified to profit or loss
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations 
Exchange differences on liquidation of foreign operations 
Total comprehensive income for the period 

Attributable to:
Owners of the parent company 

Year 
ended 
31 January 
2014 
£’000 

Year 
ended 31 
January 
2013 
£’000

 1,948  

 2,294 

(137) 
– 
1,811 

 77 
 22
 2,393 

1,811 

2,393

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unaudited pro-forma 
information

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

55

Consolidated statement of changes in equity (unaudited)
for the year ended 31 January 2014

Share 
capital 
£’000 

– 

 513  
 –  

Opening equity as at 1 February 2012 
Profit for the period 
Exchange differences on translation  
of foreign operations 
Exchange differences on liquidation  
of foreign operations    
Total comprehensive income for the period  
Share option movement for the period  
Dividends paid  
Closing equity as at 31 January 2013   
Profit for the period 
Exchange differences on translation  
of foreign operations 
– 
– 
Total comprehensive income for period  
– 
 Share option movement for the period  
Deferred tax on shared-based payment transaction  – 
– 
Own shares acquired in the period   
– 
Share options exercised during the period  
– 
Dividends paid  
 513  
Closing equity as at 31 January 2014  

– 
– 
– 
– 
513 
– 

Share 
premium 
account 
£’000  

 4,518  
 –  

 – 

 – 
 –  
 –  
 – 
4,518  
 – 

–  
–  
–  
–  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 4,518  

Own 
shares 
£’000 

Translation 
reserve 
£’000 

 – 
 –  

 1,139  
 –  

Share 
Option 
reserve 
£’000  

 1,212  
 –  

Retained 
 earnings 
£’000 

 5,991  
 2,294  

Total 
equity 
 £’000

 13,373 
 2,294 

– 

 – 
 – 
– 
 –  
 – 
 – 

 –  
 – 
 – 
 – 

 (2,000)  
 846  
 –  
 (1,154) 

 77 

 – 

– 

77

 22 
 99  
 –  
 –  
 1,238  
 – 

 (137) 
 (137)  
 – 
 – 
 –  
 –  
 –  
 1,101  

 – 
 –  
 118  
 – 
 1,330  
 – 

 –  
 –  
 100  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 1,430  

– 
 2,294 
– 

 (1,867)  
 6,418 
 1,948  

 – 
 1,948  
 –  
68  
 –  
 (271)  
 (2,058)  
 6,105  

22
 2,393 
 118 
(1,867)
 14,017 
 1,948 

 (137)
 1,811 
 100  
 68
 (2,000)
 575 
 (2,058)
 12,513 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
Consolidated statement of financial position (unaudited) 
as at 31 January 2014

Assets
Non-current assets
Goodwill 
Other intangible assets  
Property, plant and equipment 
Deferred tax assets 

Current assets
Trade and other receivables 
Current tax assets 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Asset held for sale 
Derivative financial instruments 

Total assets  

Current liabilities 
Trade and other payables 
Current tax liabilities 
Other liabilities 
Provisions 
Derivative financial instruments 

Net current assets 

Total liabilities 
Net assets 

Equity
Share capital 
Share premium account  
Own shares  
Translation reserve 
Share option reserve 
Retained earnings 
Total equity 

Note 

P8 
P9 
P10 

P11 

31 January 
2014 
£’000 

31 January 
2013 
£’000 

 918  
 396  
 697  
 247  
 2,258  

 956 
 601 
 792 
 557 
 2,906 

 20,812  
 665  
 18,419  
 –  
–  
 39,896  
 42,154  

 33,855 
 455 
 17,252 
 697 
 19 
 52,278 
 55,184 

 (5,746) 
 (128) 
 (22,987) 
 (734) 
 (46) 
 (29,641) 
 10,255  

 (11,720)
 (55)
 (28,720) 
 (672)
 –

 (41,167)
 11,111 

 (29,641) 
 12,513  

 (41,167)
 14,017 

 513  
 4,518  
 (1,154) 
 1,101   
 1,430  
 6,105  
 12,513  

 513 
 4,518
 –
1,238 
 1,330 
 6,418 
14,017 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unaudited pro-forma 
information

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

57

Consolidated statement of cash flows (unaudited)
for the twelve months ended 31 January 2014

  Year ended 31  Year ended 31 
January 2013 
  January 2014 
£’000 
£’000 

Note 

P6 

Cash flows from operating activities
Continuing operations   
Net cash inflow from operating activities 
Investing activities
Continuing operations   
 – Interest received 
 – Purchases of property, plant and equipment   
 – Purchases of intangible assets 
 – Purchases in respect of asset held for sale 
 – Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment   
 – Proceeds on disposal of asset held for sale   
Net cash generated by/(used in) investing activities 
Financing activities 
Continuing operations 
 – Dividends paid 
 – Proceeds on exercise of share options 
 – Purchase of own shares 
Net cash used in financing activities 
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 
Opening cash and cash equivalents  
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes 
Closing cash and cash equivalents 

P4 

 4,874  
 4,874  

 5,254 
 5,254 

 21  
 (72) 
 (597) 
 (10) 
 8  
815  
 165  

 40 
 (177) 
 (572) 
 – 
 – 
 – 
 (709) 

 (2,058) 
 575  
 (2,000) 
 (3,483) 
 1,556  
17,252  
 (389) 
 18,419  

 (1,867)
–
 – 
 (1,867)
 2,678 
 14,337 
 237 
 17,252 

JetCard cash
The closing cash and cash equivalents balance can be further analysed into ‘JetCard 
cash’ (being unrestricted cash received by the Group in respect of its JetCard product) 
and ‘non-JetCard cash’ as follows:

JetCard cash 
Non-JetCard cash 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Group 

31 January 
2014 
£’000 

31 January 
2013 
£’000

 8,752  
 9,667  
18,419 

8,624
 8,628
17,252

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
P1 Basis of preparation 
As a result of the change of accounting reference date to 31 January, as described in Note 2 to the financial statements, the following  
pages present ‘unaudited pro-forma’ financial information comprising a consolidated income statement, a consolidated statement  
of comprehensive income, a consolidated statement of changes in equity, consolidated statement of financial position and  
consolidated statement of cash flows and selected notes comparing the financial performance for the year ended 31 January 2014  
to that for the year ended 31 January 2013.

P2 Segmental analysis
The services provided by the Group consist of hiring different types of aircraft for charter to its customers and related aviation services. 
The Board reviews the performance of the services that are provided by the Group on the following basis: Commercial Jet Broking, 
Private Jet Broking, Freight Broking and Support Services (which includes fuel, emergency planning and travel services). Each of these 
components has been identified as an operating segment.

Sale transactions between operating segments are carried out on an arm’s length basis and all revenues, results, assets and liabilities 
which are reviewed by the Board are prepared on a basis consistent with those that are reported in the financial statements.

The Board does not review assets and liabilities at a segmental level, therefore these items are not disclosed.

The segmental information, as provided to the Board for the reportable segments on a monthly basis, is as follows: 

Year ended 31 January 2014  
(Unaudited) 
Continuing operations   
Total revenues 
Revenues from transactions with other operating segments 
Revenues from external customers    
Depreciation and amortisation 
Finance income and expense 
Underlying profit before tax 
Non-trading items (see note P3) 
Profit before tax 

Year ended 31 January 2013  
(Unaudited) 
Continuing operations   
Total revenues 
Revenues from transactions with other operating segments 
Revenues from external customers    
Depreciation and amortisation 
Finance income and expense 
Underlying profit before tax 
Non-trading items (see note P3) 
Profit before tax 

Commercial 
Jet Broking 
£’000 
 150,776  
 (2,100) 
 148,676  
 (102) 
 (3) 
 2,331  
 (777) 
 1,554  

Private 
Jet Broking 
£’000  
 55,965  
 (87)  
 55,878  
 (66) 
 (3) 
 1,509  
 (494) 
 1,015 

Freight 
Broking 
£’000 
 11,979  
 (252) 
 11,727  
 (9) 
 (1) 
 207  
 (69) 
 138  

Commercial 

Private 

Freight 

Jet Broking 

Jet Broking 

Broking 

£’000 
 131,833  
 (1,099) 
 130,734  
(133) 
 62  
 1,684  
 (84) 
 1,600  

£’000  
 46,449  
 (96) 
 46,353  
 (91) 
 39  
 1,110  
 6  
 1,116  

£’000 
 16,498  
 (624) 
 15,874  
 (17) 
 12  
 238  
 (42) 
 196  

Support 
Services 
£’000 
 7,840  
 (144) 
 7,696  
 (8) 
 (1) 
 203  
 (80) 
 123  

Support 

Services 

£’000 
 15,652  
 615  
 16,267  
 (24) 
 11  
 298  
 (2) 
 296  

Total 
£’000
 226,560 
 (2,583)
 223,977 
 (185)
 (8) 
 4,250 
 (1,420)
 2,830

Total 

£’000
 210,432 
 (1,204)
 209,228 
 (265)
 124 
 3,330 
 (122)
 3,208 

The Company is domiciled in the UK but, due to the nature of the Group’s operations, a significant amount of revenue from  
external customers is derived from overseas countries. The Group reviews revenue based upon the location of the assets used  
to generate those revenues. Apart from the UK, no single country is deemed to have material revenue and non-current asset levels,  
other than goodwill in relation to the French operations.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
  
 
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
Notes to the unaudited 
pro-forma information

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

59

 The Board also reviews information on a geographical basis based on the parts of the 
world which are considered to be key to operational activities. As a result, the following 
additional information is provided showing a geographical split of the United Kingdom, 
Europe, the United States of America and the Rest of the World:

United 
Kingdom 
£’000 

 United States 
of America 
£’000 

Europe 
£’000 

Rest of 
the World 
£’000 

Total 
£’000

Year ended 31 January 2014  
(Unaudited)   
Revenues from external  
customers    
Non-current assets  
(excluding deferred tax assets) 
Year ended 31 January 2013  
(Unaudited)   
Revenues from external  
customers    
Non-current assets  
(excluding deferred tax assets) 

P3 Non-trading items

103,931    83,230  

 34,045  

 2,771   223,977 

 968  

 736  

 280  

 27  

 2,011 

 103,157    80,883  

 20,839  

 4,349   209,228 

 1,158  

 908  

 234  

 49  

 2,349 

Continuing operations 

US Federal Excise Tax 
Impairment of aircraft 
Impairment of intangible assets 
Restructuring costs  
Non-trading items before taxation   
Tax effect of non-trading items 
Non-trading items after taxation 

 Year ended 31  Year ended 31 
January 2013 
 January 2014 
  (Unaudited) 
(Unaudited) 
£’000 

£’000

 –  
 –  
(774) 
(646) 
(1,420) 
339  
 (1,081) 

 532 
 (335)
 – 
 (319)
 (122)
 164 
 42

At the commencement of the prior period, a provision of £1,000,000 was held  
in relation to unpaid Federal Excise Tax due on certain flights contracted by the  
Company outside the US but involving a US destination. During the prior year, the 
Company and its US tax advisors concluded discussions with the relevant authorities, 
resulting in payments totalling £468,000 including interest for late payment and 
professional fees. The remaining provision of £532,000 was written back to the  
income statement, resulting in a gain of £443,000 within administrative expenses  
and a gain of £89,000 within finance expense.

In the prior period the carrying value of the Group’s sole owned aircraft was written  
down by £335,000 to its fair value less costs to sell of £690,000 based on a third  
party valuation. The aircraft was disposed of during the twelve month period ended 
31 July 2013. See note P11 for further details.

 The reorganisation of the Group to report on a product-led basis has resulted in 
restructuring costs of £646,000 in the current period. In the prior period, the Group’s  
cost reduction restructuring exercise resulted in costs of £319,000. These costs in both 
the current and prior periods comprised redundancy payments, external legal advice  
and outplacement costs. These costs were included within administrative expenses.

In the current period, management conducted a review of ongoing intangible asset 
related projects and identified that an impairment was required to write down the  
assets to their recoverable amount, totaling £774,000. For details see note P9. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the unaudited 
pro-forma information 
for the year ended 31 January 2014  
continued

P4 Dividends

 Year ended 31 
  January 2014 
(Unaudited) 
£’000 

Year ended 31 
January 2013 
(Unaudited) 
£’000

Amounts recognised as distributions  
to owners of the parent company in the period
First interim dividend for the eighteen month  
period ended 31 January 2014 of 6.05 pence  
(interim dividend for the year ended 2012: 5.5 pence) per share 
Second interim dividend for the eighteen month  
period ended 31 January 2014 of 14.0 pence 
(2013: final dividend for year ended 31 July 2012  
of 12.7 pence) per share 

621 

564

1,437  
2,058 

 1,303
1,867

P5 Earnings per share 

 The calculation of the basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the 
following data: 

Continuing operations 

Earnings for the calculation of basic  
and diluted earnings per share 
Profit attributable to owners of the parent company  
Non-trading items 
Underlying profit 

Number of shares 
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for  
the calculation of basic earnings per share 
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares: share options 
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for  
the calculation of diluted earnings per share 

 Year ended 31 
  January 2014 
(Unaudited) 
£’000 

Year ended 31 
January 2013 
(Unaudited) 
£’000

1,948 
1,081 
3,029 

2,294
(42) 
2,252

10,169,490   10,261,393
– 

 155,875  

 10,325,365  

10,261,393

The calculation of underlying earnings per share (before non-trading items) is 
included as the directors believe it provides a better understanding of the underlying 
performance of the Group. Non-trading items are disclosed in note P3. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the unaudited 
pro-forma information

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

61

P6 Net cash inflow from operating activities

Continuing operations 

 Year ended 31  Year ended 31 
January 2013 
 January 2014 
  (Unaudited) 
(Unaudited) 
£’000 

£’000

Profit for the period 
Adjustments for: 
Finance income 
Finance expense 
Income tax expense 
Depreciation and amortisation 
Impairment of intangible assets 
Impairment of asset held for sale 
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment 
Profit on disposal of asset held for sale 
Fair value losses/(gains) on derivative financial instruments  
Share option cost for period 
Increase/(decrease) in provisions 
Foreign exchange differences 
Operating cash flows before movements in working capital   
Decrease/(increase) in receivables   
(Decrease)/increase in payables 
Cash generated from operations 
Income taxes paid 
Interest paid 
Net cash inflow from operating activities 

1,948  

 2,294 

(21) 
29  
 882  
 185  
 774  
 –  
 4  
 (82) 
 65 
100  
 62  
 174  
 4,120  
 12,519  
 (11,086) 
 5,553  
 (650) 
 (29) 
 4,874  

 (40)
 (84) 
 914 
 265 
 – 
 335 
 – 
 – 
 (46)
 118 
 (669) 
 (120) 
 2,967 
 (10,998)
 15,019 
 6,988 
 (1,729) 
 (5) 

 5,254

P7 Taxation

Continuing operations 

Current tax: 
UK corporation tax 
Foreign tax 
Amounts under-provided in previous years 

Deferred tax 
Total tax 

Of which: 
Tax on underlying profit  
Tax on non-trading items (see note P3) 

 Year ended 31  Year ended 31 
January 2013 
 January 2014 
  (Unaudited) 
(Unaudited) 
£’000 

£’000

 503  
158 
(148) 
 513  
 369  
882  

1,221  
 (339) 
 882  

 645
 389 
 30 
 1,064 
 (150)
 914 

 1,078 
 (164)
914

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Notes to the unaudited 
pro-forma information 
for the year ended 31 January 2014  
continued

P8 Goodwill

Cost
At 1 February 2012 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2013 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2014 

Provision for impairment 
At 1 February 2012, 31 January 2013 and 31 January 2014 

Net book value 
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 January 2013 

At 1 February 2012 

Goodwill 
£’000

925  
 31 
 956 
 (38)
 918

 –

 918 

 956

 925

For further details regarding goodwill, please refer to note 11 to the financial statements.

P9 Other intangible assets

Cost
At 1 February 2012 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2013 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2014 

Amortisation 
At 1 February 2012  
Charge for the period 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2013 
Charge for the period 
Impairment loss 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2014 

Net book value
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 January 2013 

At 1 February 2012 

Software
£’000

49  

 572
 –
 621 
 597
 (1)
1,217

 4 
 15 
1
 20 
 27
774
 – 
821 

396 

601 

 45 

There were no commitments at the period end to purchase any intangible assets.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the unaudited 
pro-forma information

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

63

P10 Property, plant and equipment

 Short leasehold 
  property and 
leasehold 
  improvements 
£’000 

Fixtures and 
equipment 
£’000 

Motor 
vehicles 
£’000 

Cost
At 1 February 2012 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2013 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Disposals 
At 31 January 2014 

Depreciation
At 1 February 2012 
Charge for the period 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Disposals 
At 31 January 2013 
Charge for the period 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Disposals 
At 31 January 2014 

Net book value
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 January 2013 

At 1 February 2012 

 822  
 1  
 5  
 828  
 8  
 (5) 
 (8) 
 823  

 147  
 85  
 5  
 –  
 237  
 55  
 (5) 
 (6) 
 281  

 542  

 591  

 675  

 1,706  
 28  
 18  
 1,752  
 72  
 (30) 
 (8) 
 1,786  

 1,393  
 159  
 15  
 –  
 1,567  
 99  
 (25) 
 (7) 
 1,634  

 152  

 185  

 313  

 42  
 –  
 2  
 44  
 –  
 (2) 
 (38) 
 4  

 20  
 6  
 2  
 –  
 28  
 4  
 (2) 
 (29) 
 1  

 3  

 16  

 22  

Total 
£’000

 2,570 
 29 
 25 
 2,624 
 80 
 (37)
 (54)
 2,613 

 1,560 
 250
 22 
 – 
 1,832 
 158 
 (32) 
 (42)
 1,916 

 697 

 792 

 1,010 

There were no commitments at the period end to purchase any items of property,  
plant or equipment.

P11 Asset held for sale

At 1 February 2012 
Impairment 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2013 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Disposal 
At 31 January 2014 

Aircraft 
£’000
(Unaudited)

 1,033 
 (335)
 (1)
 697 
 10 
 26 
 (733)
 – 

In August 2011, the Group commenced actively marketing its sole owned aircraft  
for sale and accordingly, the aircraft was reclassified as an asset held for sale.  
The aircraft was subsequently disposed of during the year ended 31 January 2014  
for a consideration of US$1,230,000 (£815,000).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the unaudited 
pro-forma information 
for the year ended 31 January 2014  
continued

P12 Contingent liabilities
At 31 January 2014, the Group had a charge over cash of £376,000 (31 January 2013: 
£240,000) in respect of a passenger sales agency agreement. Additionally, at 31 January 
2014 the Group had a bank guarantee for £17,000 (31 January 2013: £17,000) lodged  
in regard to certain employee rights in Dubai.

P13 Provisions

Administration claims 
Restructuring 

 31 
January  
2014 
(Unaudited) 
£’000 

 465  
 269  

31 
January 
2013 
(Unaudited) 

£’000

 474 
 198  

 734  

 672 

At 31 January 2014, a provision of £465,000 (31 July 2012: £474,000) was held in relation 
to the potential costs of settlement of claims which have been received from third parties 
following the closure of Air Partner Private Jets Limited. All remaining claims within this 
provision are expected to be settled by 31 March 2016.

During the prior financial year, the Group completed a cost reduction restructuring 
exercise. This resulted in a provision of £198,000 for employees who left the Group after 
the year end. Of this amount, £139,000, net of foreign exchange differences, was utilised 
during the current financial period and the remaining £59,000 will still be required. 
Additionally, and as a result of the change to a product-led reporting structure, during  
the current financial period further redundancies were identified and communicated  
to the relevant employees, resulting in a further provision of £210,000 being required.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Independent auditor’s report  
to the members of Air Partner plc

Independent  
auditor’s report

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

65

We have audited the financial statements of Air Partner plc for the period ended  
31 January 2014 which comprise the Consolidated Income Statement, Consolidated 
Statement of Comprehensive Income, Consolidated Statement of Financial Position, 
Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity, Company Statement of Changes in Equity, 
Company Statement of Financial Position, Consolidated and Company Statement of 
Cash Flows and the related notes 1 to 30. The financial reporting framework that has 
been applied in their preparation is applicable law and International Financial Reporting 
Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and, as regards the parent  
company financial statements, as applied in accordance with the provisions of the 
Companies Act 2006.

This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with 
Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken  
so that we might state to the Company’s members those matters we are required  
to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent 
permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the 
Company and the Company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, 
or for the opinions we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of directors and auditor
As explained more fully in the statement of Directors’ Responsibilities in Relation  
to the Financial Statements, the directors are responsible for the preparation  
of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view.  
Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on the financial statements  
in accordance with applicable law and International Standards on Auditing  
(UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices 
Board’s Ethical Standards for Auditors.

Scope of the audit of the financial statements
An audit involves obtaining evidence about the amounts and disclosures  
in the financial statements sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the financial 
statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error. 
This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are appropriate  
to the Group’s and the parent Company’s circumstances and have been consistently 
applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting 
estimates made by the directors; and the overall presentation of the financial statements. 
In addition, we read all the financial and non-financial information in the annual report  
to identify material inconsistencies with the audited financial statements. If we become  
aware of any apparent material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the 
implications for our report.

Opinion on financial statements
In our opinion:
 − the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s  

and of the parent Company’s affairs as at 31 January 2014 and of the Group’s profit  
for the period then ended;

 − the Group financial statements have been properly prepared in accordance  

with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union;

 − the parent Company financial statements have been properly prepared  

in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the European Union and as applied  
in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006; and

 − the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements  
of the Companies Act 2006 and, as regards the Group financial statements,  
Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.

Independent auditor’s report  
to the members of Air Partner plc  
continued

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion:
 − the part of the Directors’ Remuneration Report to be audited has been  
properly prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006; and

 − the information given in the Directors’ Report for the financial period for which  

the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception
We have nothing to report in respect of the following:

Under the Companies Act 2006 we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:
 − adequate accounting records have not been kept by the parent Company, or returns 
adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or
 − the parent Company financial statements and the part of the Directors’ Remuneration 
Report to be audited are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

 − certain disclosures of directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or
 − we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

Under the Listing Rules we are required to review:
 − the directors’ statement, set out on page 20, in relation to going concern; 
 − the part of the Corporate Governance Statement relating to the Company’s  
compliance with the nine provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code  
specified for our review; and

 − certain elements of the report to shareholders by the Board on directors’ 

remuneration. 

Robert Knight (Senior statutory auditor) 
for and on behalf of Deloitte LLP 
Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor 
Crawley, United Kingdom 

9 April 2014

 
Financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

67

Consolidated income statement
for the period ended 31 January 2014

Continuing operations 

Revenue 
Cost of sales 
Gross profit 
Administrative expenses  
Operating profit  
Finance income 
Finance expense  
Profit before tax 
Taxation 
Profit for the period 
Attributable to:
 Owners of the parent company  
Earnings per share:
Continuing operations
Basic 
Diluted 
* Before non-trading items (see note 5)

 18 months ended 31 January 2014 

  Year ended 31 July 2012

Note 

3 

4 
7 
7 

8 

Underlying* 
£’000  

 326,125  
 (291,823) 
 34,302 
 (28,731) 
 5,571  
 37  
 (32) 
 5,576  
 (1,729)  
 3,847  

Non-trading 
items 
£’000 

Total 
£’000 

Underlying* 
£’000  

Non-trading 
 items 
£’000 

 –  
 –  
 – 
 (1,420) 
 (1,420) 
 –  
 –  
 (1,420) 
 339 
 (1,081) 

 326,125  
 (291,823) 
 34,302  
 (30,151) 
 4,151  
 37  
 (32) 
 4,156  
 (1,390) 
 2,766  

 227,556  
 (205,792) 
 21,764  
 (18,573) 
 3,191  
 51  
 (10) 
 3,232  
 (1,049)  
 2,183  

– 
–  
 – 
 818  
 818  
 –  
 89  
 907  
 (100)  
 807 

Total 
 £’000

 227,556 
(205,792)
 21,764 
(17,755)
 4,009 
 51 
 79 
 4,139 
(1,149)
 2,990 

 3,847  

 (1,081) 

 2,766  

 2,183  

 807  

 2,990 

10 
10 

 37.7p 
 37.3p 

 (10.6)p 
(10.5)p 

 27.1p 
 26.8p 

 21.3p 
 21.3p 

 7.8p 
 7.8p 

 29.1p
 29.1p

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
for the period ended 31 January 2014

Profit for the period 
Other comprehensive income – items that may subsequently be reclassified to profit or loss:
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations 
Exchange differences on liquidation of foreign operations 
Total comprehensive income for the period 

Attributable to:
Owners of the parent company 

18 months 
ended 31 
January 2014 
£’000 

Year  
ended 
July 2012 
£’000

 2,766  

 2,990 

138 
22 
 2,926  

 (152)
 –
 2,838 

 2,926  

 2,838

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

Consolidated statement of financial position
as at 31 January 2014

31 
  January 2014 
£’000 

31 
July 2012 
£’000 

Assets 
Non-current assets 
Goodwill 
Other intangible assets  
Property, plant and equipment 
Deferred tax assets 

Current assets 
Trade and other receivables 
Current tax assets 
Cash and cash equivalents 
Asset held for sale 

Total assets  

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 
Current tax liabilities 
Other liabilities 
Provisions 
Derivative financial instruments 

Net current assets 

Total liabilities 

Net assets 

Equity
Share capital 
Share premium account  
Own shares 
Translation reserve 
Share option reserve 
Retained earnings 
Total equity 

11 
12 
13 
22 

16 

14 

17 

18 
19 
20 

24 

25 

 918  
 396  
 697  
 247  
 2,258  

 871 
 287 
 890 
 469 
 2,517 

 20,812  
 665  
 18,419  
–  
 39,896  
 42,154  

 30,544 
 212 
 15,716 
 690 
 47,162 
 49,679 

 (5,746) 
 (128) 
 (22,987) 
 (734) 
 (46) 
 (29,641) 
 10,255  

 (8,247)
 (367)
 (26,138)
 (724)
 (90)
 (35,566)
 11,596 

 (29,641) 

 (35,566)

 12,513  

 14,113 

 513  
 4,518  
 (1,154) 
 1,101  
 1,430  
 6,105  
 12,513  

 513 
 4,518
 – 
 941 
 1,238 
 6,903 
 14,113 

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board on 
9 April 2014 and were signed on its behalf by:

M A Briffa 
Director 

G Charles 
Director

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
Financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

69

Consolidated statement of changes in equity
for the period ended 31 January 2014

Opening equity as at 1 August 2011   
Profit for the period 
Exchange differences on translation of  
foreign operations  
Total comprehensive income for the period  
Share option movement for the period 
Dividends paid  
Closing equity as at 31 July 2012 

Share 
capital 
£’000 

 513  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 513  

Opening equity as at 1 August 2012   
Profit for the period 
Exchange differences on translation  
of foreign operations     
Exchange differences on liquidation  
of foreign operations     
Total comprehensive income for the period  
Share option movement for the period 
Deferred tax on share-based payment transactions 
Own shares acquired in the period   
Share options exercised during the period 
Dividends paid 
Closing equity as at 31 January 2014   

 513  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 –  
–  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 513  

Share 
premium 
account 
£’000  

 4,518  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 4,518  

 4,518  
 –  

Own 
shares 
£’000 

Translation 
reserve 
£’000 

 –  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  

 –  
 –  

 –  

 1,093  
 –  

 (152) 
 (152) 
 –  
 –  
 941  

 941  
 –  

 138  

 22  
 160  
 –  
–  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 1,101  

Share 
option 
reserve 
£’000  

 1,087  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 151  
 –  
 1,238  

 1,238  
 –  

Retained 
 earnings 
£’000 

Total 
equity 
 £’000

 5,606  
 2,990  

 12,817 
 2,990 

 –  
 2,990  
 –  
 (1,693) 
 6,903  

 (152) 
 2,838 
 151 
(1,693) 
 14,113

 6,903  
 2,766  

 14,113
 2,766 

 –  

 –  

 138 

 –  
 –  
 192  
–  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 1,430  

 –  
 2,766  
 –  
68 
 –  
 (271) 
 (3,361) 
 6,105  

 22 
 2,926 
 192 
68 
 (2,000) 
 575 
 (3,361)
 12,513 

 –  

 –  

 –  
 –  
 –  
–  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 4,518  

 –  
 –  
 –  
–  
 (2,000) 
 846  
 –  
 (1,154) 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
Company statement of changes in equity
for the period ended 31 January 2014

Company 

Opening equity as at 1 August 2011   
Profit for the period 
Total comprehensive income for the period  
Share option movement for the period 
Dividends paid  
Closing equity as at 31 July 2012 

Opening equity as at 1 August 2012   
Profit for the period 
Total comprehensive income for the period  

Share option movement for the period 
Share option movement for the period 
Own shares acquired in the period   
Share options exercised during the period 
Dividends paid 
Closing equity as at 31 January 2014  

Share 
capital 
£’000 

Share 
premium 
account 
£’000  

Own 
shares 
£’000 

513  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
513  

513  
 –  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
513  

 4,518  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 4,518  

 4,518  
 –  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 4,518  

 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  

 –   
 –  
 –  

 –  
 –  
 (2,000) 
 846  
 –  
 (1,154) 

Share 
option 
reserve 
£’000  

 1,087  
 –  
 –  
 151  
 –  
 1,238  

 1,238  
 –  
 –  

 192  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 1,430  

Retained 
 earnings 
£’000 

 3,337  
 3,580  
 3,580  
 –  
 (1,693) 
 5,224  

 5,224  
 3,729  
 3,729  

 –  
 68  
 –  
 (271) 
 (3,361) 
 5,389  

Total 
equity 
 £’000

 9,455 
 3,580 
 3,580 
 151 
(1,693) 
 11,493

 11,493
 3,729 
 3,729 

 192
 68 
(2,000) 
 575  
(3,361)
 10,696 

Own shares
The own shares reserve represents the cost of shares in Air Partner PLC purchased in the market and held  
by The Air Partner Employee Benefit Trust to satisfy options under the Group’s share option schemes (see note 25).

Translation reserve 
The translation reserve represents the accumulated exchange differences arising from the impact of the translation of subsidiaries  
with a functional currency other than pounds Sterling. 

Share option reserve
The share option reserve relates to the accumulated costs associated with the outstanding share options issued to staff  
but not exercised.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
 
  
  
 
 
   
 
 
 
Financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

71

Company statement of financial position
as at 31 January 2014

Assets 
Non-current assets 
Intangible assets 
Property, plant and equipment 
Investments 
Deferred tax assets 

Current assets 
Trade and other receivables 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Total assets  

Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 
Current tax liabilities 
Other liabilities 
Provisions 
Derivative financial instruments 

Net current assets 
Total liabilities 
Net assets 

Equity
Share capital 
Share premium account  
Own shares 
Share option reserve 
Retained earnings 
Total equity 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000 

 392  
 576  
 1,844  
149  
 2,961  

 277 
 749 
 1,769 
 30 
 2,825 

 12,592  
 10,899  
 23,491  
 26,452  

 17,946 
 7,459 
 25,405 
 28,230 

 (2,853) 
 (176) 
 (12,006) 
 (675) 
(46) 
 (15,756) 
 7,735  
 (15,756) 
 10,696  

 (2,660)
 (284)
 (13,193)
 (510)
 (90)
 (16,737)
 8,668 
 (16,737)
 11,493 

 513  
 4,518  
 (1,154) 
 1,430  
 5,389  
 10,696  

 513 
 4,518
 – 
 1,238 
 5,224 
 11,493 

12 
13 
15 
22 

16 

17 

18 
19 
20 

24 

25 

These financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board  
on 9 April 2014 and were signed on its behalf by:

M A Briffa 
Director 

G Charles 
Director

Air Partner plc 
Registered No. 00980675

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
Financial  
statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

Consolidated and company statement of cash flows
for the period ended 31 January 2014

Group 

Company

 18 month period 

 ended 31 

Year ended 
  January 2014  31 July 2012  January 2014  31 July 2012 
£’000

Year ended 

£’000 

£’000 

£’000 

Note 

 18 month period 
ended 31 

Cash flows from operating activities 
Continuing operations   
Discontinued operations 
Net cash inflow from  
operating activities 

26 

 7,245  
– 

 10,871  
664 

 7,274  
– 

 5,536 
664

 7,245  

 11,535  

 7,274  

 6,200 

Investing activities
Continuing operations 
– Interest received 
 37  
–  Dividends received from subsidiaries 
–  
–  Purchases of property, plant and equipment  (87) 
–  Purchases of intangible assets 
 (920) 
–  Purchases in respect of asset held for sale 
(10) 
–  Proceeds on disposal of property,  

plant and equipment   

 8  
–  Proceeds on disposal of asset held for sale  815  

 51  
 –  
 (230) 
 (298) 
 –  

 –  
 –  

 36  
 1,632  
 (5) 
 (920) 
 –  

 –  
 –  

 36 
 1,765 
 (56)
 (284)
 – 

 – 
 – 

Net cash (used in)/generated 
by investing activities 

 (157) 

 (477) 

 743  

 1,461 

Financial activities 
Continuing operations 
– Dividends paid 
 (3,361) 
575  
–  Proceeds on exercise of share options  
(2,000) 
–  Purchase of own shares 
Net cash used in financing activities  
 (4,786) 
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents   2,302  
Opening cash and cash equivalents  
 15,716  
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes 
 401  
 18,419  
Closing cash and cash equivalents 

 (1,693) 
 –  
 –  
 (1,693) 
 9,365  
 7,151  
 (800) 
 15,716  

 (3,361) 
 575  
 (2,000) 
 (4,786) 
 3,231  
 7,459  
 209  
 10,899  

 (1,693) 
 – 
 – 
 (1,693)
 5,968 
 1,864 
 (373) 
 7,459 

Discontinued operations
During the year ended 31 July 2012, the Group and Company received £664,000  
of dividends from the administrators of Air Partner Private Jets Limited.

JetCard cash
The closing cash and cash equivalents balance can be further analysed into ‘JetCard 
cash’ (being unrestricted cash received by the Group and Company in respect of its 
JetCard product) and ‘non-JetCard cash’ as follows: 

JetCard cash 
Non-JetCard cash 
Cash and cash equivalents 

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

 8,752  
 9,667  
 18,419  

2012 
£’000 

2014 
£’000 

 7,611  
 8,105  
 15,716  

 7,242  
 3,657  
 10,899  

2012 
£’000

 6,485 
 974 
 7,459 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

73

1 General information
Air Partner plc (“the Group”, “the Company”) is a company incorporated and domiciled in 
England and Wales under registration number 00980675. The address of the registered office 
is 2 City Place, Beehive Ring Road, Gatwick, West Sussex, RH6 0PA. The nature of the Group’s 
operations and its principal activities are set out in the Chief Executive’s review on pages 8 to 11.

2 Accounting policies
a) Basis of preparation of financial statements
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial 
Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as adopted for use in the European Union in accordance 
with EU law (IAS regulation EC1606/2002) and those parts of the Companies Act 2006 
applicable to companies reporting under IFRS.

The financial statements are presented in Sterling, being the currency of the primary 
economic environment in which the Group operates. Unless otherwise stated, figures are 
rounded to the nearest thousand. They are prepared on the historical cost basis, except 
for the revaluation of certain financial instruments which are stated at fair value. 

The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the previous financial year, 
except as described in the following sections.

Change of accounting reference date 
On 26 July 2013 the Group announced it was changing its accounting reference date  
from 31 July to 31 January. Accordingly, these financial statements have been prepared  
for the 18 month period ended 31 January 2014. This decision will bring the busier  
part of the year, where most of the profit is generated, into the first six months of the 
Group’s financial year. This will enable better investment planning internally and will  
give shareholders greater visibility, at an earlier stage, of the likely full year result.

Adoption of new and revised standards
No new or revised standards or interpretations have been adopted in the current  
financial period.

New standards, amendments and interpretations in issue but not yet effective
The following standards, amendments and interpretations to existing standards  
have been published and are not mandatory for the current accounting period,  
and have not been early adopted by the Group:

 − Annual Improvements 2009-2011 cycle; effective for periods beginning on  

or after 1 January 2013;

 − IAS 19 Employee Benefits (2011); effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013;
 − IAS 27 Separate Financial Statements (2011); effective for periods beginning on  

or after 1 January 2013;

 − IAS 28 Investments in Associates and Joint Ventures (2011); effective for periods 

beginning on or after 1 January 2013;

 − Offsetting Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities (Amendments to IAS 32);  

effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014;

 − Disclosures — Offsetting Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities  

(Amendments to IFRS 7); effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013;
 − Recoverable Amount Disclosures for Non-Financial Assets (Amendments to IAS 36); 

effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014;

 − Novation of Derivatives and Continuation of Hedge Accounting (Amendments to 
IAS 39); effective retrospectively for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014;

 − Government Loans (Amendments to IFRS 1); effective for periods beginning on  

or after 1 January 2013;

 − IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (2009) and IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (2010);  

effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2015;

 − IFRS 10 Consolidated Financial Statements; effective for periods beginning on  

or after 1 January 2013;

 − IFRS 11 Joint Arrangements; effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013;

Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

 − IFRS 12 Disclosure of Interests in Other Entities; effective for periods beginning  

on or after 1 January 2013;

 − IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement; effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2013;
 − Consolidated Financial Statements, Joint Arrangements and Disclosure of Interests in 

Other Entities: Transition Guidance; effective for periods beginning on or after  
1 January 2013;

 − Investment Entities (Amendments to IFRS 10, IFRS 12 and IAS 27); effective  

for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014;

 − IFRIC 21 Levies; effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2014.

There are no standards and interpretations in issue but not yet adopted which,  
in the opinion of the directors, will have a material effect on the reported income  
or net assets of the Group or the Company.

b) Basis of consolidation
The consolidated financial statements incorporate the financial statements  
of the Company (including its branch in Dubai) and entities controlled by the Company  
(its subsidiaries) made up to 31 January each year. Control is achieved where the Company 
has the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an investee entity so  
as to obtain benefits from its activities.

The results of subsidiaries acquired or disposed of during the year are included  
in the consolidated income statement from the effective date of acquisition or up to  
the effective date of disposal, as appropriate. Where necessary, adjustments are made to 
the financial statements of subsidiaries to bring the accounting policies used into line with 
those used by the Group. All intra-group transactions, balances, income and expenses are 
eliminated on consolidation.

c) Key accounting estimates and judgments
The preparation of financial statements requires management to make judgments, 
estimates and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported  
amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses. These estimates and associated 
assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors believed  
to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from these estimates. 
These underlying assumptions are reviewed on an on-going basis. Revisions to  
accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised  
if the revision affects only that period; or in the period of the revision and future periods  
if these are also affected.

Impairment of intangible assets
In the current period, management conducted a review of ongoing intangible asset  
related projects and identified that an impairment of £774,000 was required to write  
down the assets to their recoverable amount. Please refer to the Chief Executive’s  
Review on page 10 for further details about the impairment.

Third party claims
An assessment has been made of the potential costs of settlement of third party claims 
received following the closure of Air Partner Private Jets Limited, based on discussions  
with advisors and the outcomes of similar legal cases. There is no guarantee that such 
claims will be successful, nor that the full amount of the provision will be required. 
See note 5 for further details.

Accruals related to air charter contracts
When revenues and costs for air charter contracts are initially recognised,  
estimates may need to be made in order to accrue items of income and expenditure  
that have not been invoiced. These estimates may not reflect the ultimate outcome.  
During the year ended 31 July 2012, an extensive review of historical accruals  
related to air charter contracts was performed and as a result a number of accruals  
were reversed. See note 5 for further details.

Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

75

d) Going concern
The Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future 
development, performance and position are set out in the Chief Executive’s Review  
on pages 8 to 11. The financial position of the Group, its cash flows, liquidity  
position and borrowing facilities are described in the Chief Financial Officer’s Review  
on page 12. In addition, note 20 to the financial statements includes the Group’s 
objectives, policies and processes for managing its capital risk; details of its financial 
instruments and hedging activities; and its exposures to interest rate risk, credit risk, 
liquidity risk and foreign currency risk.

The Company has considerable cash resources and no debt. As a consequence,  
the directors believe that the Company is well placed to manage its business risks 
successfully despite the current uncertain economic outlook.

The directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources  
to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt 
the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the annual financial statements.

e) Foreign currency

i) Foreign currency transactions
Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the foreign exchange rate prevailing 
at the time of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign 
currencies at the reporting date are translated to the functional currency of the entity 
at the foreign exchange rate ruling at that date. Foreign exchange differences arising on 
translation are recognised in the income statement. Non-monetary assets and liabilities 
that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are translated using the 
exchange rate at the date of the transaction.

ii) Financial statements of foreign operations 
The assets and liabilities of foreign operations are translated at exchange rates prevailing 
at the reporting date. Income and expenses are translated at the average rate for the 
period. Exchange differences arising are classified as equity and transferred to the Group’s 
translation reserve. 

f ) Goodwill
Goodwill arising in a business combination is recognised as an asset at the date that 
control is acquired (the acquisition date). Goodwill is measured as the excess of the sum 
of the consideration transferred, the amount of any non-controlling interest in the acquiree 
and the fair value of the acquirer’s previously held equity interest (if any) in the entity 
over the net of the acquisition-date amounts of the identifiable assets acquired and the 
liabilities assumed.

If, after reassessment, the Group’s interest in the fair value of the acquiree’s  
identifiable net assets exceeds the sum of the consideration transferred, the amount  
of any non-controlling interest in the acquiree and the fair value of the acquirer’s previously 
held equity interest in the acquiree (if any), the excess is recognised immediately in profit  
or loss as a bargain purchase gain.

Goodwill is not amortised but is reviewed for impairment at least annually. For the purpose 
of impairment testing, goodwill is allocated to each of the Group’s cash-generating units 
expected to benefit from the synergies of the combination. Cash-generating units to which 
goodwill has been allocated are tested for impairment annually, or more frequently when 
there is an indication that the unit may be impaired. If the recoverable amount of the cash-
generating unit is less than the carrying amount of the unit, the impairment loss is allocated 
first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to the unit and then to the other 
assets of the unit pro-rata on the basis of the carrying amount of each asset in the unit.  
An impairment loss recognised for goodwill is not reversed in a subsequent period.

On disposal of a subsidiary, the attributable amount of goodwill is included in the 
determination of the profit or loss on disposal.

Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

g) Intangible assets 
Intangible assets acquired separately are stated at cost less accumulated amortisation  
and any impairment losses. 

Intangible assets with finite lives are amortised over their useful economic life and  
assessed for impairment whenever there is an indication that the asset may be impaired.  
The amortisation period and the amortisation method for an intangible asset with a finite 
useful life are reviewed at least at each financial year end. Changes in the expected useful  
life or the expected pattern of consumption of future economic benefits embodied in the 
asset are accounted for by changing the amortisation period or method, as appropriate,  
and are treated as changes in accounting estimates.

Amortisation is charged to the income statement so as to write off the cost of assets  
less their residual values over their estimated useful lives, as follows:

Software 

– 

10–20% per annum on a straight-line basis

h) Property, plant and equipment
Items of property, plant and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation 
and any impairment losses. 

Depreciation is charged to the income statement so as to write off the cost of assets  
less their residual values over their estimated useful lives, as follows:

Short leasehold property 
Leasehold improvements 
Fixtures and equipment 
Motor vehicles 

– 
– 
– 
– 

over the life of the lease on a straight-line basis
over the life of the lease on a straight-line basis
10–33% per annum on a straight-line basis
25% per annum on a reducing balance basis

i) Impairment of tangible and intangible assets excluding goodwill
At each balance sheet date, the Group reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible  
and intangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets  
have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount  
of the asset is estimated to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).  
Where the asset does not generate cash flows that are independent from other assets,  
the Group estimates the recoverable amount of the cash-generating unit to which the asset 
belongs. An intangible asset with an indefinite useful life is tested for impairment at least 
annually and whenever there is an indication that the asset may be impaired.

Recoverable amount is the higher of fair value less costs to sell and value in use. In assessing 
value in use, the estimated future cash flows are discounted to their present value using a pre-tax 
discount rate that reflects current market assessments of the time value of money and the risks 
specific to the asset for which the estimates of future cash flows have not been adjusted.

If the recoverable amount of an asset (or cash-generating unit) is estimated to be less than 
its carrying amount, the carrying amount of the asset (or cash-generating unit) is reduced 
to its recoverable amount. An impairment loss is recognised immediately in profit or loss, 
unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount, in which case the impairment 
loss is treated as a revaluation decrease.

Where an impairment loss subsequently reverses, the carrying amount of the asset  
(or cash-generating unit) is increased to the revised estimate of its recoverable amount,  
but so that the increased carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that  
would have been determined had no impairment loss been recognised for the asset 
(or cash-generating unit) in prior years. A reversal of an impairment loss is recognised 
immediately in profit or loss, unless the relevant asset is carried at a revalued amount,  
in which case the reversal of the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation increase.

j) Assets in disposal groups classified as held for sale
Non-current assets and disposal groups are classified as held for sale only if available for 
immediate sale in their present condition and a sale is highly probable and expected to be 
completed within one year from the date of classification. Such assets are measured at the 
lower of carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell and are not depreciated or amortised.

 
Notes to the  
financial statements

k) Financial instruments

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

77

Financial assets
The Group classifies its financial assets in the following categories: at fair value  
through profit or loss, and loans and receivables. The classification depends on the 
purpose for which the financial assets were acquired. Management determines the 
classification of its financial assets at initial recognition.

Purchases and sales of financial assets are recognised on the trade date – the date  
on which the Group commits to purchase or sell the asset. Financial assets are initially 
recognised at fair value plus transaction costs, except for financial assets held at fair  
value through profit or loss which are initially recognised at fair value and transaction  
costs are expensed in the income statement. Financial assets are derecognised when  
the rights to receive cash flows have expired or have been transferred and the Group  
has transferred substantially all risks and rewards of ownership.

Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss are financial assets held for trading.  
A financial asset is classified in this category if acquired principally for the purpose of 
selling in the short term. Derivatives are also categorised as held for trading unless  
they are designated as hedges. Assets in this category are classified as current assets  
if expected to be settled within 12 months; otherwise, they are classified as non-current. 
Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss are initially recognised at fair value 
at the date the contract is entered into, and subsequently gains or losses arising from 
changes in their fair value are presented in the income statement within administrative 
expenses in the period in which they arise. The Group’s financial assets at fair value 
through profit or loss comprise derivative financial instruments.

Derivative financial instruments
The Group enters into derivative financial instruments, including foreign exchange forward 
contracts, to manage its exposure to foreign exchange rate risk. Derivatives not designated 
into an effective hedge relationship are classified as a financial asset or a financial liability. 
The Group has not designated any derivatives as hedging items and therefore does not 
apply hedge accounting.

Loans and receivables
Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable 
payments that are not quoted in an active market. They are included in current assets, 
except for maturities greater than 12 months at the end of the reporting period.  
These are classified as non-current assets. Loans and receivables are subsequently  
carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method. The Group’s loans and 
receivables comprise ‘trade receivables’, ‘other receivables’, ‘accrued income’ and  
‘cash and cash equivalents’ in the balance sheet. 

Trade receivables
Trade receivables are amounts due from customers for services performed in the  
ordinary course of business. If collection is expected in one year or less, they are  
classified as current assets. If not, they are presented as non-current assets.

Other receivables
Other receivables are other amounts contractually due from third parties, for example 
deposits receivable for leased assets. 

Accrued income
Accrued income is revenue that has been contracted and recognised in accordance  
with the Group’s accounting policies, but not yet invoiced.

Cash and cash equivalents 
Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash balances and call deposits with an original 
maturity of three months or less. The carrying amount of these assets approximates  
their fair value.

Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

Financial liabilities
The Group classifies its financial liabilities in the following categories: at fair value through 
profit or loss, and at amortised cost. The classification depends on the purpose for which  
the financial liabilities were acquired. Management determines the classification of its 
financial liabilities at initial recognition. Financial liabilities are recognised when the Group 
becomes a party to the contractual agreement of the instrument. 

Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss
Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss are financial liabilities held for 
trading. A financial liability is classified in this category if acquired principally for the 
purpose of selling in the short term. Derivatives are also categorised as held for trading 
unless they are designated as hedges. Liabilities in this category are classified as current 
liabilities if expected to be settled within 12 months; otherwise, they are classified as 
non-current. Financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss are initially recognised 
at fair value at the date the contract is entered into, and subsequently gains or losses 
arising from changes in their fair value are presented in the income statement within 
administrative expenses in the period in which they arise. The Group’s financial liabilities  
at fair value through profit or loss comprise derivative financial instruments.

Financial liabilities at amortised cost
The Group’s financial liabilities at amortised cost comprise ‘trade payables’, ‘other payables’ 
and ‘accrued costs’. They are initially measured at fair value, net of transaction costs, and are 
subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Trade payables
Trade payables are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired 
in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Trade payables are classified as 
current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented 
as non-current liabilities.

Other payables
Other payables that are financial liabilities at amortised cost are certain customer  
deposits which are contractually refundable to customers on demand.

Accrued costs
Accrued costs are costs that have been contracted and recognised in accordance  
with the Group’s accounting policies, but for which invoices have not yet been received  
or payments made, as applicable.

Offsetting financial instruments
Financial assets and liabilities are offset and the net amount reported in the balance sheet 
when there is a legally enforceable right to offset the recognised amounts and there is an 
intention to settle on a net basis or realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Equity instruments issued by the Group
An equity instrument is a contract that evidences a residual interest in the asset of an 
entity after deducting all of its liabilities. Equity instruments are recorded at the proceeds 
received, net of direct issue costs. The Group’s equity instruments comprise ‘share capital’ 
in the balance sheet.

l) Provisions
Provisions are recognised when the Group has a present obligation as a result of a 
past event, and it is probable that the Group will be required to settle that obligation. 
Provisions are measured at the directors’ best estimate of the expenditure required  
to settle the obligation at the reporting date, and are discounted to present value.

A restructuring provision is recognised when the Group has developed a detailed formal 
plan for the restructuring and has raised a valid expectation in those affected that it will 
carry out the restructuring by starting to implement the plan or announcing its main 
features to those affected by it.

Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

79

m) Revenue
Revenue is measured as the fair value of the consideration received for the provision  
of goods and services to third-party customers and is stated exclusive of Value Added Tax.  
In respect of the Group’s principal activities (being that of air charter brokers and providers 
of travel agency services), the full contract value is realised as revenue when the economic 
benefits are deemed to have passed to the customer, which is generally the flight date. 
Amounts invoiced to customers in respect of future flights, including amounts related  
to the JetCard product, are deferred at the balance sheet date and only recognized in income  
once the flight has taken place.

n) Segmental reporting
Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided 
to the Chief Operating Decision Maker. The Chief Operating Decision Maker, who is responsible 
for resource allocation and assessing performance of the operating segments, is considered  
to be the Board. The nature of the operating segments is set out in note 3.

o) Share-based payments
The Group will from time to time grant options to employees to subscribe for ordinary shares 
in the Company. The fair value of options granted is recognised as an employee expense with 
a corresponding increase in equity. The fair value is measured at grant date and spread over 
the period during which employees become unconditionally entitled to the options, based on 
management’s estimate of the number of options which will ultimately vest, adjusting at each 
reporting date for the effect of non market-based vesting conditions. 

p) Retirement benefit costs
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense 
in the period in which the employees render service. Payments made to state-managed 
retirement benefit schemes are dealt with as payments to defined contribution schemes 
where the Group’s obligations under the schemes are equivalent to those arising in a defined 
contribution retirement benefit scheme.

q) Taxation
The tax expense represents current and deferred tax. Income tax is recognised  
in the income statement except to the extent that it relates to items recognised  
directly in equity, in which case it is recognised in equity.

Current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable income for the year, using tax rates 
enacted or substantively enacted at the reporting date, and any adjustments to  
the tax payable in respect of previous years.

Deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable on differences between the 
carrying amount of assets and liabilities in the financial statements and the corresponding 
tax bases used in the computation of taxable profit and is accounted for using the balance 
sheet liability method. Deferred tax liabilities are recognised for all temporary differences 
and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that taxable profits 
will be available against which deductible temporary differences can be utilised. Such 
assets and liabilities are not recognised if the temporary differences arise from goodwill  
or from the initial recognition (other than in a business combination) of other assets and 
liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the taxable profit nor the accounting profit.

Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are enacted or substantively enacted  
at the reporting date.

r) Non-trading items
Non-trading items are those items that in the directors’ view are required  
to be separately disclosed by virtue of their size or incidence to assist in  
understanding the Group’s performance. 

Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

s) Leasing
Leases are classified as finance leases whenever the terms of the lease transfer all,  
or substantially all, of the risks and rewards of ownership to the lessee. All other leases 
are classified as operating leases. Rental income or expenditure from operating leases 
is recognised on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

t) Dividends 
Final dividends on ordinary shares are recognised as a liability in the period in which 
the dividends are approved by the Company’s shareholders. Interim dividends are 
recognised as a liability in the period in which they are paid.

3 Segmental analysis
The services provided by the Group consist of hiring different types of aircraft for charter 
to its customers and related aviation services. The Board reviews the performance of the 
services that are provided by the Group on the following basis: Commercial Jet Broking, 
Private Jet Broking, Freight Broking and Other Services (which includes operations and 
travel services). Each of these components has been identified as an operating segment.

Sale transactions between operating segments are carried out on an arm’s length basis 
and all revenues, results, assets and liabilities which are reviewed by the Board are 
prepared on a basis consistent with those that are reported in the financial statements.

The Board does not review assets and liabilities at a segmental level, therefore these 
items are not disclosed. 

The segmental information, as provided to the Board for the reportable segments  
on a monthly basis, is as follows: 

2014 

Continuing operations 

  Commercial 
Jet Broking 
£’000 

Private 
Jet Broking 
£’000 

Freight 
Broking 
£’000 

Other 
Services 
£’000 

Total 
£’000

 216,044  

Total revenues 
Revenues from transactions 
with other operating segments  (2,508) 
Revenues from external  
customers 

 213,536  

 78,699  

 19,970  

 14,634    329,347 

 (162) 

 (324) 

 (228) 

 (3,222) 

 78,537  

 19,646  

 14,406  

 326,125 

Depreciation and amortisation  (169) 
Finance income and expense 
 3  

Underlying profit before tax   3,050  
(777) 
Non-trading items (see note 5) 
 2,273  
Profit before tax 

 (107) 
 2  

 1,940  
 (494) 
 1,446  

 (15) 
 –  

 272  
 (69) 
 203  

 (17) 
 –  

 314  
 (80) 
 234  

2012 

Continuing operations 

  Commercial 
Jet Broking 
£’000 

Private 
Jet Broking 
£’000 

Freight 
Broking 
£’000 

Other 
Services 
£’000 

 (308)
 5 

 5,576
 (1,420)
 4,156 

Total 
£’000

 139,675  

Total revenues 
Revenues from transactions 
with other operating segments   (773) 
Revenues from external  
customers 

 138,902  

 44,033  

 26,972  

 19,166    229,846 

 (64) 

 (1,078) 

 (375) 

 (2,290) 

 43,969  

 25,894  

 18,791  

 227,556 

Depreciation and amortisation 
Finance income and expense 

 (138) 
 64  

Underlying profit before tax   1,597  
 447  
Non-trading items (see note 5)  
 2,044  
Profit before tax 

 (88) 
 40  

 1,011  
 284  
 1,295  

 (29) 
 14  

 337  
 95  
 432  

 (25) 
 12  

 287  
 81  
 368  

 (280)
 130

 3,232 
 907 
 4,139 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

81

The Company is domiciled in the UK but, due to the nature of the Group’s operations, 
a significant amount of revenue from external customers is derived from overseas 
countries. The Group reviews revenue based upon the location of the assets used 
to generate those revenues. Apart from the UK, no single country is deemed to have 
material non-current asset levels, other than goodwill in relation to the French operation.

The Board also reviews information on a geographical basis based on the parts of the 
world which are considered to be key to operational activities. As a result the following 
additional information is provided showing a geographical split of the United Kingdom, 
Europe, the United States of America and the Rest of the World: 

United 
Kingdom 
 £’000 

   United States 
of America 
£’000 

Europe 
£’000 

Rest of the 
World 
£’000 

Total 
£’000

2014
Revenues from external  
customers  
Non-current assets  
(excluding deferred tax assets) 

2012
Revenues from external  
customers  
Non-current assets  
(excluding deferred tax assets) 

 156,869  

 119,388  

 45,446  

 4,422  

 326,125 

 968  

 736  

 280  

 27  

 2,011 

 110,089  

 94,446  

 18,064  

 4,957  

 227,556 

 990  

 850  

 163  

 45  

 2,048 

For the current period, the Group did not have any customers who accounted for  
more than 10% of the Group’s external revenue during the year (2012: one customer 
with revenue of £38,039,000). In respect of the year ended 31 July 2012, this customer  
is based in the United Kingdom and operates in each business segment.

4 Operating profit
Operating profit for the year has been arrived at after charging / (crediting)  
the following: 

Net foreign exchange loss/(gain) 
Change in the fair value of derivative financial instruments  
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment   
Impairment of aircraft 
Amortisation of intangible fixed assets  
Impairment of intangible assets 
Profit on disposal of asset held for resale 
Loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment  
Operating lease rentals – land and buildings 
Operating lease rentals – other 
Staff costs (see note 6)  

2014 
 £’000 

 43  
 (44) 
 271 
 –  
 37  
 774  
 (82)  
4  
561  
71  
 19,775  

2012 
£’000

 (588)
 46 
 271 
 335 
 9 
 – 
 – 
 – 
 603 
 88 
 12,602 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

Fees payable to the principal auditor and its network firms for audit and other services 
are disclosed below.

2014 
 £’000 

2012 
£’000

 102  

 53 

13  
115  

2014 
 £’000 

 14 
 67 

2012 
£’000

 126  
 60 
 186 

The analysis of auditor’s remuneration is as follows:
Fees payable to the Company’s auditor  
for the audit of the Company’s annual financial statements  
Fees payable to the Company’s auditor and its associates  
for the audit of subsidiaries pursuant to legislation  
(including that of countries and territories outside Great Britain) 
Total audit fees 

Fees payable to the Company’s auditor and its associates for other 
services to the Group: 
Tax services  
Other services 
Total non-audit fees 

 12  
 49  
 61  

5 Non-trading items

Continuing operations 
Write-back of historical accruals and other credit balances   
US Federal Excise Tax credited 
Impairment of aircraft 
Impairment of intangible assets 
Restructuring costs 
Non-trading items before taxation   
Tax effect of non-trading items  
Non-trading items after taxation 

2014 
 £’000 

2012 
£’000

 –  
 –  
 –  
 (774)  
 (646) 
 (1,420) 
 339  
 (1,081) 

 1,029  
 532 
 (335)  
 –  
 (319) 
 907 
 (100)
 807 

At the commencement of the prior year, the Group wrote back £1,029,000 of credit balances 
from the balance sheet, resulting in a gain within administrative expenses in the income 
statement. These balances were estimates of invoices and credit notes for revenues and 
costs related to air charter contracts. Following an extensive review, the Group concluded 
that these balances should no longer be retained.

At the commencement of the prior year, a provision of £1,000,000 was held in relation 
to unpaid Federal Excise Tax due on certain flights contracted by the Company outside 
the US but involving a US destination. During the prior year, the Company and its US tax 
advisors concluded discussions with the relevant authorities, resulting in payments totalling 
£468,000 including interest for late payment and professional fees. The remaining provision 
of £532,000 was written back to the income statement, resulting in a gain of £443,000 
within administrative expenses and a gain of £89,000 within finance expense.

In the prior year, the carrying value of the Group’s sole owned aircraft was written  
down by £335,000 to its fair value less costs to sell of £690,000 based on a third  
party valuation. The aircraft was disposed of during the current financial period;  
see note 14 for further details.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

83

The reorganisation of the Group to report on a product-led basis has resulted in 
restructuring costs of £646,000 in the current period. In the prior period, the Group’s 
cost reduction restructuring exercise resulted in costs of £319,000. These costs in both 
the current and prior periods comprised redundancy payments, external legal advice 
and outplacement costs. These costs were included within administrative expenses.

In the current period, management conducted a review of ongoing intangible asset 
related projects and identied that an impairment of £774,000 was required to write 
down the assets to their recoverable amount.

6 Directors and employees
The average number of people employed by the Group (including directors) during  
the year, analysed by category was as follows:

Continuing operations 

Operations 
Administration 

The aggregate payroll costs comprised:

Continuing operations 

Wages and salaries 
Social security costs 
Pension costs  
Share-based payments   

2014 
 Number 

2012 
Number

 124  
 72  
 196  

 156  
 59 
 215 

2014 
 £’000 

 16,104  
 2,865  
 614  
 192  
 19,775  

2012 
£’000

 10,201  
 1,863 
 387 
 151 
 12,602 

The Group contributes to personal pension plans of certain employees  
and this cost is charged to the income statement in the year in which it is incurred.

Full disclosure of directors’ emoluments, share options and directors’ pension 
entitlements which form part of their remuneration packages, and their interests  
in the Company’s share capital are disclosed in the Directors’ Remuneration Report.

7 Finance income and expense

Continuing operations 

Finance income 
Interest on bank deposits 

Continuing operations 
Finance expense 
Interest on bank overdrafts 
Unwinding of discount on provisions 
Interest credited on unpaid Federal Excise Tax (see note 5)    

2014 
 £’000 

2012 
£’000

 37  

 51 

2014 

 £’000 

 10  
 22  
– 
 32  

2012 

£’000

 10
 – 
(89)
 (79)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

8 Taxation

Continuing operations 

Current tax: 
UK corporation tax 
Foreign tax 
Amounts (overprovided)/underprovided in previous years 

Deferred tax (see note 22) 
Total tax 
Of which: 
Tax on underlying profit  
Tax on non-trading items (see note 5) 

2014 

 £’000 

2012 

£’000

 771  
 446  
 (108)  
 1,109  
 281  
 1,390  

 1,729  
 (339) 
 1,390  

 823 
 357 
 18 
 1,198 
 (49)
 1,149 

 1,049 
 100 
 1,149 

Corporation tax in the UK was calculated at 23.4% (2012: 25.33%) of the estimated 
assessable profit for the period. Taxation for other jurisdictions was calculated at the 
rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions. 

The charge for the year can be reconciled to the profit per the consolidated income 
statement as follows:

Profit from continuing operations before tax 
Tax at the UK corporation tax rate of 23.4% (2012: 24%) 
Effect of UK corporation tax rate at 24%  
from 1 August to 31 March 2013 (2012: 26%) 
Tax effect of expenses that are not deductible  
in determining taxable profit 
Tax effect of losses not previously recognised   
Tax effect of different tax rates of subsidiaries  
operating in other jurisdictions 
Amounts underprovided in previous periods 
Total tax charge 

2014 
 £’000 

 4,156  
 973  

2012 
£’000

 4,139 
 993 

 5  

 100 

 219  
 (8) 

 299 
 (193) 

 309  
 (108)  
 1,390  

 (68)
 18 
 1,149 

The UK corporation tax rate decreased from 24% to 23% from 1 April 2013.  
The impact on the current year’s tax charge is shown above.  

Further reductions to the UK corporation tax rate have been announced.  
A reduction to 21% with effect from 1 April 2014 and a further reduction to 20%  
effective from 1 April 2015 were substantively enacted on 17 July 2013 and the deferred 
tax balance has been adjusted to reflect this change (see note 22).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

85

9 Dividends

Amounts recognised as distributions  
to owners of the parent company in the period   
Final dividend for year ended 31 July 2012 of 12.7 pence  
(Year end 2011: dividend of 11.0 pence) per share 
First interim dividend for eighteen month period ended  
31 January 2014 of 6.05 pence  
(Interim dividend for the year ended 31 January  
2012: 5.5 pence) per share 
Second interim dividend for the eighteen month  
period ended 31 January 2014 of 14.0 pence 
(2012: nil) per share 

2014 
 £’000 

2012 
£’000

 1,303  

 1,129 

 621  

 564 

 1,437  
 3,361  

 – 
 1,693

10 Earnings per share  
The calculation of the basic and diluted earnings per share is based on the 
following data:

Earnings for the calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share  
Continuing and discontinued operations 
Profit attributable to owners of the parent company 
Non-trading items 
Underlying profit – continuing and discontinued operations  

 2,766  
 1,081  
 3,847  

 2,990 
 (807) 
 2,183

2014 
 £’000 

2012 
£’000

Number of shares 
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the 
calculation of basic earnings per share 
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares: share options    
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the  
calculation of diluted earnings per share 

  10,216,004   10,261,393 

 105,414  

 7,791

  10,321,418   10,269,184 

The calculation of underlying earnings per share (before non-trading items) is included 
as the directors believe it provides a better understanding of the underlying performance 
of the Group. Non-trading items are defined in note 2 and disclosed in note 5.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

11 Goodwill 

Group 

Cost
At 1 August 2011 
Foreign currency adjustment 
At 31 July 2012 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2014 

Provision for impairment
At 1 August 2011, 31 July 2012 and 31 July 2013  

Net book value 
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 July 2012 

At 31 July 2011 

Goodwill 
£’000

 755 
 116
 871 
 47 
 918 

 – 

 918 

 871 

 755

Goodwill has been allocated entirely to one cash generating unit,  
being Air Partner International SAS.

For the purpose of impairment testing, the recoverable amount of the cash generating 
unit was measured on the basis of its value in use, by applying cash flow projections 
based on financial forecasts covering a three-year period. The key assumptions for  
the value in use calculation were those regarding the discount rates, growth rates  
and expected changes to selling prices and direct costs during the forecast period.  
The estimated growth rates were based on past performance and expectation of  
future changes in the market. The growth rate used to extrapolate cash flow  
projections beyond the period covered by the financial forecasts was 2% (2012: 2%). 
The pre-tax rate used to discount the forecast cash flows was 14% (2012: 10%).

The directors do not believe that there are any reasonably possible changes  
to the key assumptions that would result in a material impairment of goodwill.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

87

12 Other intangible assets

Software 

Cost 
At 1 August 2011 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 July 2012 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2014 

Amortisation and impairment 
At 1 August 2011 
Charge for the period    
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 July 2012 
Charge for the period    
Impairment loss  
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 January 2014 

Net book value 
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 July 2012 

At 31 July 2011 

Group 
£’000 

Company 
£’000

– 
298 
(1) 
297 
920 
– 
1,217 

– 
9 
1 
 10  
37 
774 
– 
 821  

396 

287 

– 

 –
 284
 –
 284
 920
 –
 1,204

 –
 7
 –
 7
 31
 774
 –
 812

 392

 277

 –

Other intangible assets comprise acquired software. Please refer to notes 2 and 5  
for further details regarding the nature of the impairment loss made during the  
current financial period. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

13 Property, plant and equipment

  Short leasehold 
property and 
leasehold 
improvements 
£’000 

Aircraft 
£’000 

Fixtures and 
equipment 
£’000 

Motor 
vehicles 
£’000 

Group 

Cost
At 1 August 2011 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Reclassified as held for sale 
At 31 July 2012 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Disposals 
At 31 January 2014 

Depreciation and impairment
At 1 August 2011 
Charge for the period 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Reclassified as held for sale 
At 31 July 2012 
Charge for the period 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Disposals 
At 31 January 2014 

Net book value
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 July 2012 

At 31 July 2011 

 803  
 28  
 (15) 
 –  
 816  
 8  
 7  
 (8) 
 823  

 112  
 81  
 (13) 
 –  
 180  
 100  
 7  
 (6) 
 281  

 542  

 636  

 691  

 1,711  
 –  
 –  
 (1,711) 
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  

 731  
 –  
 –  
 (731) 
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 –  

 –  

 –  

 980  

 1,703  
 62  
 (74) 
 –  
 1,691  
 79  
 24  
 (8) 
 1,786  

 1,335  
 183  
 (63) 
 –  
 1,455  
 164  
 22  
 (7) 
 1,634  

 152  

 236  

 368  

 45  
 –  
 (6) 
 –  
 39  
 –  
 3  
 (38) 
 4  

 18  
 7  
 (4) 
 –  
 21  
 7  
 2  
 (29) 
 1  

 3  

 18  

 27  

Total 
£’000

 4,262 
 90 
 (95)
 (1,711)
 2,546 
 87 
 34 
 (54)
 2,613 

 2,196 
 271 
 (80) 
 (731)
 1,656 
 271 
 31 
 (42)
 1,916 

 697 

 890 

 2,066 

In August 2011, the Group commenced actively marketing its sole owned aircraft for 
sale. Accordingly, the aircraft was reclassified as an asset held for sale. The aircraft was 
disposed during the current period; see note 14 for further details.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

89

 Short leasehold 
  property and 
leasehold 
  improvements 
£’000 

Fixtures and 
equipment 
£’000 

Motor 
vehicles 
£’000 

805  
28  
(24) 
 (89) 
 720  
 (5) 
 –  
715  

 92  
 69  
 (89) 
72  
 87  
 –  
 159  

 556  

 648  

 713  

 1,403  
 28  
 24  
 (559) 
 896  
 10  
 (7) 
 899  

 1,231  
 126  
 (559) 
 798  
 89  
 (6) 
 881  

 18  

 98  

 172  

 15  
 –  
 –  
 –  
 15  
 –  
 –  
 15  

 10  
 2  
 –  
 12  
 1  
 –  
 13  

 2  

 3  

 5  

Company 

Cost
At 1 August 2011 
Additions 
Reclassifications 
Disposals 
At 31 July 2012 
Additions 
Disposals 
At 31 January 2014 

Depreciation
At 1 August 2011 
Charge for the period 
Disposals 
At 31 July 2012 
Charge for the period 
Disposals 
At 31 January 2014 

Net book value
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 July 2012 

At 31 July 2011 

14 Asset held for sale

At 1 August 2011 
Reclassification from property, plant and equipment 
Impairment (see note 5) 
Foreign currency adjustments 
At 31 July 2012 
Additions 
Foreign currency adjustments 
Disposal 
At 31 January 2014 

Total 
£’000

 2,223 
 56 
 – 
 (648)
 1,631 
 5 
 (7) 
 1,629 

 1,333 
 197 
 (648)
 882 
 177 
 (6)
 1,053 

 576 

 749 

 890 

Aircraft 
£’000

 – 
 980 
 (335) 
 45 
 690 
 10 
 33 
 (733) 
 – 

In August 2011, the Group commenced actively marketing its sole owned aircraft  
for sale and accordingly, the aircraft was reclassified as an asset held for sale. 
The aircraft was subsequently disposed of during the current period for a consideration  
of US$1,230,000 (£815,000).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

15 Investments

Company 

Investments 
in shares of 
 to subsidiaries 
£’000 

Capital 
contributions 
to subsidiaries 
£’000 

Cost  
At 1 August 2011 
Additions – capital contributions to subsidiaries 
Additions – group share-based payments 
Reclassification 
Disposal of investment in Air Partner Leasing USA, Inc. 
At 31 July 2012 
Additions – capital contributions 
At 31 January 2014 

 1,286  
 –  
 –  
 212  
 (319) 
 1,179  
 –  
 1,179  

 1,133  
 725  
 55  
 (212) 
 (603) 
 1,098  
 122  
 1,220  

Total  
£’000

 2,419 
 725 
 55 
 – 
 (922) 
 2,277 
 122 
 2,399 

Amounts provided 
At 1 August 2011 
Impairment of investment in Air Partner  
Leasing USA, Inc. 
Impairment of investment in Air Partner Nordic AB 
Disposal of investment in Air Partner Leasing USA, Inc. 
At 31 July 2012 
Impairment of investment in Air Partner Nordic AB 
At 31 January 2014  

Net book value  
At 31 January 2014 

At 31 July 2012 

At 31 July 2011 

 420  

 285  

 705  

 –  
 –  
 (319) 
 101  
 –  
 101  

 1,078  

 1,078  

 866  

 603  
 122  
 (603) 
 407  
 47  
 454  

 603 
 122 
 (922)
 508 
 47 
 555 

 766  

 1,844 

 691  

 1,769 

 848  

 1,714 

In the prior year, the Company disposed of its investment in the entire issued share 
capital of Air Partner Leasing USA, Inc., to the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary  
Air Partner, Inc., for consideration of one ordinary share issued by Air Partner, Inc.

The Company tests its investments for impairment if there are indications that the 
investments may be impaired. The recoverable amount of each investment was 
measured on the basis of its value in use, by applying cash flow projections based 
on the financial forecasts covering a three-year period. The key assumptions for the 
value in use calculation for each subsidiary were those regarding the discount rates, 
growth rates and expected changes to selling prices and direct costs during the period. 
The estimated growth rates were based on past performance and expectation of future 
changes in the market. The growth rate used to extrapolate cash flow projections 
beyond the period covered by the financial forecasts was 2% (2012: 2%). The rate used 
to discount the forecast cash flows was 14% (2012: 10%). The directors do not believe 
that there are any reasonably possible changes to the key assumptions that would 
result in a further impairment of the Company’s investments.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

91

The following is a list of the principal trading subsidiaries of which Air Partner plc, 
incorporated in England and Wales, is the beneficial owner:

Name 

Principal activity  Country of incorporation  Holding

Air Partner International SAS 
Air Partner International GmbH 
Air Partner, Inc. 
Air Partner Leasing USA, Inc. 
Air Partner (Switzerland) AG  
Air Partner Travel Management  
Company Limited 
Air Partner Srl 
Air Partner Havacilik ve Tasimacilik  
Limited Sirketi 
Air Partner Nordic AB 
Air Partner Jet Charter  
and Sales Private Limited 

 * 100% is held by a subsidiary undertaking. 

 ** 40% is held by a subsidiary undertaking. 

Air charter broking 
Air charter broking 
Air charter broking 
Aircraft leasing 
Air charter broking 

France 
Germany 
US 
US 
Switzerland 

100%
100%
100%
100%*
100%

Travel agency 
Air charter broking 

England and Wales 
Italy 

100%
100%

Air charter broking 
Air charter broking 

Turkey  100%**
100%

Sweden 

Air charter broking 

India  100%***

*** 99.99% is held by one subsidiary undertaking and 0.01% is held by another subsidiary undertaking.

In the opinion of the directors the recoverable amount of the Company’s subsidiary 
undertakings is considered to be in excess of the carrying value.

16 Trade and other receivables

Gross trade receivables  
Allowance for bad and doubtful debts 
Trade receivables 
Amounts owed by Group undertakings 
Social security and other taxes 
Other receivables 
Prepayments and accrued income   

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000 

 13,680  
 (381) 
 13,299  
 –  
 551  
 174  
 6,788  
 20,812  

 19,004  
 (151) 
 18,853  
 –  
 178  
 201  
 11,312  
 30,544  

2014 
£’000 

 7,538  
 (235) 
 7,303  
 774  
 404  
 32  
 4,079  
 12,592  

2012 
£’000

 10,265 
 (61)
 10,204 
 1,342 
 135 
 32 
 6,233 
 17,946 

The directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other receivables 
approximates their fair value.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

All trade and other receivables have been reviewed for indicators of impairment. 
The following receivables were determined to be impaired and were fully provided for, 
because of poor payment history:

At 1 August 2011 
Charge for the year 
Receivables written off during the period 
At 31 July 2012 
Charge for the year 
Receivables written off during the period 
At 31 January 2014 

Group 
£’000 

 252  
 77  
 (178) 
 151  
 346  
 (116) 
 381  

Company 
£’000

 134 
 78 
 (151)
 61 
 235 
 (61)
 235 

Of the amounts impaired during the period, £117k was for an amount past due by more than 
6 months but less than 1 year with the remainder being all overdue by more than one year.

In addition, some of the unimpaired trade receivables were past due at the  
reporting date. The ageing of financial assets was as follows:

Neither past due nor impaired 
Past due but not impaired:
– By not more than 3 months 
–  By more than 3 months but not  

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 8,159  

 12,444  

 3,995  

 6,345 

 3,463  

 5,575  

 2,112  

 3,349 

more than 6 months   

 714  

 336  

 361  

 245 

–  By more than 6 months but not  

more than 1 year 

– By more than 1 year   

17 Trade and other payables

 423  
 540  
 13,299  

 149  
 349  
 18,853  

 291  
 544  
 7,303  

 84 
 181 
 10,204 

Trade payables 
Other taxation and social security payable 

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

 5,174  
 572  
 5,746  

2012 
£’000 

 7,745  
 502  
 8,247  

2014 
£’000 

 2,680  
 173  
 2,853  

2012 
£’000

 2,500 
 160 
 2,660

The directors consider that the carrying amount of trade and other payables 
approximates their fair value. 

18 Other liabilities

Deferred income 
Accruals 
Other liabilities 
Amounts owed to Group undertakings 

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

 18,916  
 3,689  
 382  
 –  
 22,987  

2012 
£’000 

 19,613  
 6,148  
 377  
 –  
 26,138  

2014 
£’000 

 10,280  
 1,662  
 41  
 23  
 12,006  

2012 
£’000

 9,656 
 3,514 
 – 
 23 
 13,193 

The directors consider that the carrying amount of other liabilities approximates  
their fair value. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

93

19 Provisions

Administration claims 
Restructuring 

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

 465  
 269  
 734  

2012 
£’000 

 474  
 250  
 724  

2014 
£’000 

 465  
 210  
 675  

2012 
£’000

 474 
 36 
 510 

  Administration  

Administration 

Group 

Company 

At 1 August 2012 
Additional  
provision in  
the year 

Utilisation of  
provision 
Adjustment for  
change in  
discount rate 
Unwinding of  
discount 
Foreign currency  
adjustments   
At 31 January 2014 

claims  Restructuring 
£’000 
£’000 

 474  

 250  

Total 
£’000 

 724  

claims  Restructuring 
£’000 
£’000 

Total 
£’000

 474  

 36  

 510 

–  

 428  

 428  

 –  

210  

210

(1) 

 (412) 

 (413) 

 (1) 

 (36) 

 (37) 

 (30) 

 –  

 (30) 

 (30) 

 –  

 (30)

22  

 –  

 22  

 22  

 –  

 22 

–  
 465  

 3  
 269  

 3  
 734  

 –  
 465  

 –  
 210  

 – 
 675 

A provision of £465,000 (2012: £474,000) was held in relation to the potential costs 
of settlement of claims which have been received from third parties following the 
closure of Air Partner Private Jets Limited. All remaining claims within this provision 
are expected to be settled by 31 March 2016.

During the prior financial year, the Group completed a cost reduction restructuring 
exercise. This resulted in a provision of £250,000 for employees who left the Group 
after the year end. Of this amount, £191,000, net of foreign exchange differences, 
was utilised during the current financial period and the remaining £59,000 will still 
be required. Additionally, and as a result of the change to a product-led reporting 
structure, during the current financial period further redundancies were identified and 
communicated to the relevant employees, resulting in a further provision of £428,000,  
of which £218,000 was utilised during the period and the remaining £210,000 will 
still be required. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

20 Financial instruments
The objectives of the Group’s treasury activities are to manage financial risk,  
minimise adverse effects of fluctuations in the financial markets on the value  
of the Group’s financial assets and liabilities and to ensure that the working  
capital requirements fit the needs of the ongoing business.

The Group has various financial instruments such as cash, trade receivables and trade 
payables that arise directly from its operations, along with forward currency contracts 
undertaken to minimise risk on future business. 

a) Interest rate risk
The Group’s policy is to manage interest rate risk and to maximise its return from  
its cash balances. The Group’s main interest rate risk is related to variable rates  
on cash held at the bank. Certain cash balances are deposits on fixed interest terms, 
but are never lodged for more than three months to ensure that the Group does not 
suffer unduly from the risk of interest rate variation.

Cash held at year end on fixed 
interest rates  
Cash held at year end on variable  
interest rates  

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 3,314  

 1,208  

 12  

 16 

 15,105  
 18,419  

 14,508  
 15,716  

 10,887  
 10,899  

 7,443 
 7,459 

The following table illustrates the sensitivity of cash held on variable interest rates  
on profit before tax for the year to a reasonably possible change in interest rates,  
with effect from the beginning of the year. There was no additional impact on 
shareholders’ equity. These changes are considered to be reasonably possible based 
on observation of current market conditions. The rate range on which interest was 
receivable during the year was 0.0% to 0.5% (2012: 0.0% to 10.4%).

Group 

Cash held at year end on 
variable interest rates   

Company 

Cash held at year end on  
variable interest rates   

Effect on profit before tax

100 basis  
points increase 

100 basis  
points decrease

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 151  

 145  

 (151) 

 (145)

Effect on profit before tax

100 basis  
points increase 

100 basis  
points decrease

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 109  

 74  

 (109) 

 (74)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

95

b) Credit risk
The carrying amount of financial assets recognised at the reporting date, as 
summarised below, represents the Group’s maximum exposure to credit risk:

Cash and cash equivalents  
Trade and other receivables  

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000 

2014 
£’000 

 18,419  
 13,622  
 32,041  

 15,716  
 18,853  
 34,569  

 10,899  
 8,125  
 19,024  

2012 
£’000

 7,459 
 11,546 
 19,005 

The Group constantly monitors defaults of customers and other counterparties and 
incorporates this information into its credit risk controls. It is the Group’s policy that 
all counterparties who wish to trade on credit terms are subject to an external credit 
verification process.

The directors consider that all of the above financial assets that are not impaired for  
each of the reporting dates under review are of good credit quality, including those  
that are past due.

The Group has no significant concentration of credit risk to commercial customers,  
as credit risk is predominantly government based. 

The credit risk on liquid funds and derivative financial instruments is limited because  
the counterparties are banks with high credit ratings assigned by international credit 
rating agencies.

Refer to note 16 for details of impairment losses for financial instruments.   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
c) Liquidity risk
The Group faces liquidity risks in paying operators before a flight occurs or before payment is received from the client. 
The Group aims to mitigate liquidity risk by, where possible, making payments to operators only once payment from  
the client has been received.

The Group manages cash within its operations and ensures that cash collection is efficiently managed. Any excess cash is placed  
on low-risk, short-term interest-bearing deposits or distributed to shareholders through dividends, although the Group retains 
enough working capital in the business to ensure that the business operations can run smoothly.

As at 31 January 2014, the Group’s financial liabilities had contractual maturities which are summarised below:

Group 

Trade and other payables 
Derivative financial instruments 

Company 

Trade and other payables 
Derivative financial instruments 

Current 

 Non-current

 Within 
  6 months 

2014 
£’000 
 17,615  
 46  
 17,661  

2012 
£’000 
15,356 
90 
15,446 

Current 

Within 
  6 months 

2014 
£’000 
 11,607  
 46  
 11,653  

2012 
£’000 
9,008 
90 
9,098 

2014 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2014 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

 6 to 12 
months 

1 to 5 
years 

More than
5 years

2012 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2012 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

 6 to 12 
months 

2014 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2014 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2012 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2014 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2012 
£’000
–
–
–

 Non-current

1 to 5 
years 

More than
5 years

2012 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2014 
£’000 
– 
– 
– 

2012 
£’000
–
–
–

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

97

d) Foreign currency risk
The Group has invested in foreign operations outside the United Kingdom and also buys and sells goods and services  
denominated in currencies other than Sterling. As a result the value of the Group’s non-Sterling revenue, purchases, financial  
assets and liabilities and cash flows can be affected by movements in exchange rates in general and in US Dollar and Euro rates  
in particular. The Group’s policy on foreign currency risk is not to enter into forward contracts until a firm contract has been signed.

The Group considers using derivatives where appropriate to hedge its exposure to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.  
The purpose is to manage the currency risks arising from the Group operations. It is the Group’s policy that no trading in financial 
instruments will be undertaken.

Foreign currency denominated financial assets and liabilities, translated into Sterling at the closing rate, are as follows:

Group 

Financial assets 
Financial liabilities 
Short-term exposure 
Financial assets 
Financial liabilities 
Long-term exposure 

Company 

Nominal amounts
Financial assets 
Financial liabilities 
Short-term exposure 
Financial assets 
Financial liabilities 
Long-term exposure 

Eur € 
 15,998  
 (10,916) 
 5,082  
– 
–  
– 
 5,082  

2014 
£’000 

US $ 
 5,949  
 (4,111) 
 1,838  
– 
– 
– 
 1,838  

GBP £ 
 9,689  
 (2,513) 
 7,176  
– 
– 
– 
 7,176  

2014 
£’000 

2012  
£’000

 Other 
 405  
 (74)  
 331  
– 
– 
– 
 331  

Eur € 
 15,798  
 (10,750) 
 5,048  
– 
– 
– 
 5,048  

 US $ 
 6,244  
 (1,954) 
 4,290  
– 
– 
– 
 4,290  

GBP £  
 11,579  
 (2,405) 
 9,174  
– 
– 
– 
 9,174  

Other
 948 
 (337)
 611 
–
–
–
 611 

2012  
£’000

Eur € 

US $ 

GBP £ 

 Other 

Eur € 

 US $ 

GBP £  

Other

 7,273  
 (7,310) 
 (37) 
– 
– 
–  
 (37) 

 3,041  
 (1,739) 
 1,302  
– 
– 
– 
 1,302  

 8,814  
 (2,531) 
 6,283  
– 
– 
– 
 6,283  

 (104) 
 (27) 
 (131) 
– 
– 
– 
 (131) 

 4,362  
 (5,988) 
 (1,626) 
– 
– 
– 
 (1,626) 

 3,878  
 (1,016) 
 2,862  
– 
– 
– 
 2,862  

 10,213  
 (2,083) 
 8,130  
– 
– 
– 
 8,130  

 552 
 (11)
 541 
–
–
–
 541 

The following table demonstrates the sensitivity of financial instruments to a reasonably possible change in the Euro  
and US Dollar exchange rates, with all other variables held constant, on profit before tax and equity. It assumes a 10% change  
of the Sterling/Euro exchange rate for the year ended 31 January 2014 (2012: 10%). A 10% change is also assumed for the  
Sterling/US Dollar exchange rate (2012: 10%). Both of these percentages have been determined based on the average market 
volatility in exchange rates in the previous 12 months. The sensitivity is based on the Group’s foreign currency financial  
instruments held at each reporting date and also takes into account forward exchange contracts that offset effects from  
changes in currency exchange rates.

 
 
 
  
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
 
  
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

If Sterling had strengthened against the Euro and US Dollar by 10% (2012: 10%)  
and 10% (2012: 10%) respectively the impact would have been as follows:

Group 

Eur € 

Financial assets 
 (1,600) 
Financial liabilities  1,092  
Effect on profit 
before tax 

 (508) 

Company 

Financial assets 
Financial liabilities 
Effect on profit 
before tax 

Eur € 
 (727) 
 731  

2014 
£’000 

US $ 

 (595) 
 411  

 (184) 
2014 
£’000 

US $ 

 (304) 
 174  

Total 

 (2,195) 
 1,503  

Eur € 
 (1,580) 
 1,075  

 (692) 

 (505) 

Total 

 (1,031) 
 905  

Eur € 
 (436) 
 599  

2012
£’000

US $ 

Total

 (624) 
 195  

 (2,204)
 1,270 

 (429) 
2012
£’000

US $ 

 (388) 
 102  

 (934)

Total

 (824)
 701 

 4  

 (130) 

 (126) 

 163  

 (286) 

 (123)

If Sterling had weakened against the Euro and US Dollar by 10% (2012: 10%) and 10% 
(2012: 10%) respectively the impact would have been as follows:

Group 

Eur € 

Financial assets 
 1,600  
Financial liabilities  (1,092) 
Effect on profit 
before tax 

 508  

Company 

Eur € 

Financial assets 
 727  
Financial liabilities   (731) 
Effect on profit 
before tax 

 (4) 

2014 
£’000 

US $ 

 595  
 (411) 

 184  
2014 
£’000 

US $ 

 304  
 (174) 

Total 

 2,195  
 (1,503) 

Eur € 
 1,580  
 (1,075) 

 692  

 505  

Total 

 1,031  
 (905) 

Eur € 
 436  
 (599) 

2012
£’000

US $ 

Total

 624  
 (195) 

 2,204 
 (1,270)

 429  
2012
£’000

US $ 

 388  
 (102) 

 934 

Total

 824 
 (701)

 130  

 126  

 (163) 

 286  

 123 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

99

e) Forward contracts
The Group utilises currency derivatives to hedge significant future transactions  
and cash flows. The Group is a party to foreign currency forward contracts in the 
management of its exchange rate exposures. The instruments purchased are primarily 
denominated in the currencies of the Group’s principal markets.

Derivatives that do not qualify for hedge accounting are accounted for as trading 
instruments and any change in their fair value is recognised in the income statement. 
No derivatives qualified for hedge accounting during the year (2012: none).

At the reporting date, the total notional amount of outstanding forward foreign 
exchange contracts that the Group had committed are as below and their related fair 
value was as follows (terms not exceeding three months from 31 January 2014):

Group & Company 

Forward foreign exchange contracts  
Financial liability 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 2,672    4,248 
 (90)

 (46) 

Changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments amounting to £44,000  
have been credited to the income statement in the period (2012: charge of £46,000).

These derivative financial instruments are not traded in active markets.  
Their fair value has been determined by using valuation techniques which  
maximise the use of observable market data, namely the contract exchange  
rate and the bank’s forward rate. The derivatives are therefore categorised  
as level 2 using the fair value hierarchy.

f ) Capital risk management
The Group’s objectives when managing capital are to safeguard the Group’s  
ability to continue as a going concern in order to provide returns for shareholders  
and benefits for other stakeholders. The Group has no debt and capital therefore  
consists entirely of equity.

The Group’s primary tool in managing risk is cash flow analysis. In addition to strategic 
cash flow management the Group performs detailed weekly cash flow modelling.

The schedule of matters reserved for Board decision includes approval of any  
financial instruments or bank borrowings in excess of £2,000,000.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

g) Financial assets by category

Group 

Loans and receivables   
Current assets which are not financial assets 
Total current assets 

Company 

Loans and receivables   
Current assets which are not financial assets 
Total current assets 

h) Financial liabilities by category

Group 

Financial liabilities held at fair value through  
profit or loss 
Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost  
Current liabilities which are not financial liabilities 
Total current liabilities   

Company 

Financial liabilities held at fair value through  
profit or loss 
Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost  
Current liabilities which are not financial liabilities 
Total current liabilities   

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 32,041  
 7,855  
 39,896  

 34,569 
 12,593 
 47,162 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 19,024  
 4,467  
 23,491  

 19,005 
 6,400 
 25,405 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 (46) 
 (8,863) 
 (20,732) 
 (29,641) 

(90)
 (15,356)
 (20,120)
 (35,566)

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

 (46) 
 (4,365) 
 (11,345) 
 (15,756) 

(90)
 (9,008)
 (7,639)
 (16,737)

The directors consider that the carrying amount of the financial assets and liabilities 
approximates their fair value.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

101

21 Share-based payments 
The Company operates a share option scheme under which options may be  
granted to certain senior staff of the Group to subscribe for ordinary shares in the 
Company. The Scheme rules cover grants under an Approved and an Unapproved 
section of the scheme. According to those rules, options may be granted at an exercise 
price equal to the average quoted market price of the Company’s shares on the  
dealing day immediately preceding the date of grant. The vesting period is three years. 
With certain exceptions, options are forfeited if an employee leaves the Group and 
outstanding options expire if they remain unexercised after a period of 6.8 to 10 years 
from the date of grant.

Details of the share options outstanding during the year are as follows: 

2014 

2012

Weighted 
average 
Number 
exercise 
of share 
options   price (pence) 

Weighted 
average  
Number  
of share 
exercise 
options  price (pence)

   1,043,766  
Outstanding as at 1 August 
Granted during the period 
 201,151  
Forfeited during the period 
 (176,905) 
Exercised during the period 
 (168,945) 
Outstanding at the end of the period   899,067  

 411.1  
 797,315  
 14.4    340,000  
 (93,549) 
 715.7  
 340.6  
 –  
 343.7   1,043,766  

Exercisable at the end of the period  

 425,416  

 541.8    370,666  

 470.8 
 277.5 
 434.9 
 – 
 411.1 

 603.6 

The weighted average remaining contractual life of share options outstanding  
at the year end was 6.307 years (2012: 7.56 years). 

The exercise prices of share options outstanding at the year end ranged from  
nil pence to 884 pence (2012: 277.5 pence to 884 pence).  

The fair value received in return for share options granted is measured by reference  
to the fair value of the share options granted. The estimate of fair value of the services 
received for share options granted during the year was measured based on the Monte 
Carlo model. The contractual life of the option (6.8 or 10 years) is used as an input  
into this model.

The inputs into the Monte Carlo model for all options granted during the period are 
as follows:

7 January 
2013 

26 October 
2013

Underlying share price (pence) 
Exercise price (pence) 
Expected volatility 
Vesting period 
Option life 
Employee exit rate 
Employee exercise multiple 
Risk-free interest rate    
Dividend yield 

290.0p 
290.0p 
30% 

500.p 
000.0p
30%
3 years  2.8 years
10 years  6.8 years
10%
1.5
2.00% 
5.0% 

10% 
1.5 
2.15% 
5.0% 

The 10,000 options granted on 7 January 2013 were subject to both service and 
non-market performance conditions.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

One third of the number of shares under option will be exercisable if, in respect of 
the Performance Period, the increase in the Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) has exceeded 
inflation (as measured by the RPI) by an average of at least 3% per annum. 

The total number of shares under option will be exercisable if, in respect of the 
Performance Period, the increase in EPS has exceeded inflation (as measured by  
the RPI) by an average of at least 7% per annum.

Between one third and the total number of shares under option, determined on a 
straight-line basis, will be exercisable if the performance falls between these two target 
levels. If the performance is below the minimum target level above, options will lapse 
and cease to be exercisable. 

The 191,151 options granted on 26 October 2013 were subject to both service and 
performance conditions, with half of the options being subject to an EPS growth 
performance condition and the other half subject to a Total Shareholder Return 
(“TSR”) condition.

For the EPS condition, all shares will vest if, in respect of the performance period, 
the increase in EPS with reference to the base year (31 July 2013) exceeds RPI by at 
least 10% per annum. If the increase in EPS exceeds RPI by between 5 and 10% over 
the performance period, then 25% of the share will vest. However, if EPS growth is 
lower than RPI plus 5% per annum over the performance period then none of the 
options awarded will vest.

For the TSR condition, vesting will be determined by comparing the Group’s TSR 
against the TSR of the FTSE Small Cap Total Return Index in accordance with the 
following conditions:

 − if the Group ranks below the 50th percentile, no options will vest;
 − if the Group is at the 50th percentile, 25% of the options will vest;
 − if the Group is at the 75th percentile, or above, 100% of the options will vest; and
 − there will be proportionate vesting where performance falls between the 50th  

and 75th percentile rankings. 

Expected volatility was determined by calculating the historical volatility of the 
Group’s share price over the ten years prior to the grant date, along with six other 
quoted companies that were considered to exhibit some degree of comparability  
with Air Partner.

The weighted average fair value of options granted during the year was  
£3.95 (2012:£0.86).

The total charge for the year relating to employee share-based payment plans 
was £192,000 (2012: £151,000), all of which related to equity share-based 
payment transactions.

Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

103

22 Deferred tax 
Deferred tax has been calculated at 20% (2012: 23%) in respect of UK companies  
and at the prevailing tax rates for the overseas subsidiaries. The following are the 
major deferred tax liabilities and assets recognised by the Group and movements 
thereon during the current and prior reporting periods.

Group 
At 1 August 2011  
Exchange differences on  
opening balances  
Credit / (expense) to the  
income statement  
At 31 July 2012  
Exchange differences on  
opening balances  
(Expense)/credit to the income  
statement  
Credit direct to equity    
At 31 January 2014 

  Net accelerated 
tax 
depreciation 
£’000 
 97  

Tax   Share-based 
payment 
£’000 
 248  

losses 
£’000 
 –  

Other 
temporary 
differences 
£’000 
 73  

Total 
£’000
 418 

 (3) 

–  

 –  

 (4) 

 (7) 

 89  
 183  

 246  
 246  

 (248)  
 –  

 (29) 
 40  

 58 
 469

 (4) 

 (7) 

 –  

 2  

 (9) 

 (139) 
– 
 40  

 (239) 
– 
 –  

 62  
68 
 130  

 35  
– 
 77  

 (281)
68
 247

 Net accelerated 

Company 
At 1 August 2011  
Expense to the income statement    
At 31 July 2012  
(Expense)/credit to the income statement 
Credit direct to equity    
At 31 January 2014 

  depreciation 
£’000 
 54  
 (24) 
 30  
(11) 
– 
 19  

tax  Share-based 
payment 
£’000 
 248  
 (248) 
 –  
 62  
68 
 130  

Other 
temporary 
differences 
£’000 
 36  
 (36) 
 –  
 –  
– 
 –  

Total 
£’000
 338 
 (308)
 30 
 51 
68
 149 

The following is the analysis of the deferred tax balances for financial reporting 
purposes:

Deferred tax assets 

Group 

Company

2014 
£’000 
 247  

2012 
£’000 
 469  

2014 
£’000 
 149  

2012 
£’000
 30 

At the balance sheet date the Group had undistributed earnings in respect of overseas 
subsidiaries that would be subject to overseas withholding taxes on remission to the 
UK. No liability has been recognised in respect of these earnings because the Group is  
in a position to control the timing of the reversal of the temporary differences and it  
is probable that such differences will not reverse in the foreseeable future.

At the balance sheet date, the Group had unused tax losses totalling £317,000 
(2012: £404,000) for which no deferred tax asset was recognised, as it is not 
considered probable that there will be future taxable profits available.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements 
for the period ended 31 January 2014  
continued

23 Employee benefits
 In the UK, the Company operates a defined contribution retirement benefit scheme 
for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held in individual personal 
pension schemes which are fully transferable if the employee leaves the Company.

 Similar schemes operate across the rest of the Group depending on local regulations 
and individual social contribution levels. The amount of expense related to such 
pension contributions is disclosed in note 6. 

24 Share capital

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

Authorised
15,000,000 (2012: 15,000,000) ordinary shares of 5.0 pence each   750  

 750 

Issued and fully paid
10,261,393 (2012: 10,261,393) ordinary shares of 5.0 pence each 

 513  

 513 

The Company has one class of ordinary shares which carries no right to fixed income 
and entitles holders to one vote per share at general meetings of the Company.

25 Own shares

Balance at 1 August 2012 
Acquired in the period   
Disposed of on exercise of options  
Balance at 31 January 2014 

Group &  
Company 
£’000

 – 
 2,000 
 (846) 
 1,154 

The own shares reserve represents the cost of shares in Air Partner plc purchased in 
the market and held by the Air Partner Employee Benefit Trust, which was established 
during the period to satisfy the future exercise of options under the Group’s share 
options schemes (see note 21). The number of ordinary shares held by the Air Partner 
Employee Benefit Trust at 31 January 2014 was 224,932 (2012: nil).

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes to the  
financial statements

Air Partner plc  
Annual Report 2014 

105

26 Net cash inflow from operating activities

Group 

Company

2014 

£’000 

2012 

£’000 

2014 

£’000 

2012

£’000

 2,766 

 2,990  

 3,729  

 3,580 

Continuing operations 

Profit for the year 
Adjustments for:
Dividends received 
Finance income 
Finance expense 
Income tax expense 
Depreciation and amortisation 
Impairment of intangible assets 
Impairment of aircraft 
Impairment of investments 
Loss on disposal of property,  
plant and equipment 
Profit on disposal of asset held for sale 
Fair value (gains)/losses on derivative  
financial instruments 
Share option cost for period 
Increase/(decrease) in provisions 
Foreign exchange differences 
 Operating cash flows before movements 
in working capital 
Decrease in receivables  
Decrease in payables 
Cash generated from operations 
Income taxes paid 
Interest paid 
Net cash flow from operating activities 

 –  
 (37) 
 32  
 1,390  
 308  
 774  
 –  
 –  

 4  
 (82) 

 (44) 
 192  
 10  
 (182) 

 5,131  
 10,351  
 (6,404) 
 9,078  
 (1,801) 
 (32) 
 7,245  

 –  
 (51) 
 (79) 
 1,149  
 280  
 –  
 335  
 –  

 –  
 –  

 46  
 151  
 (907) 
 236  

 4,150  
 11,927  
 (3,908) 
 12,169  
 (1,288) 
 (10) 
 10,871  

 (1,632) 
 (36) 
 26  
 541  
 208  
 774  
 –  
 47  

 1  
 –  

 (44) 
 192  
 165  
 (209) 

 3,762  
 5,354  
 (1,116) 
 8,000  
 (700) 
 (26) 
 7,274  

 (1,765) 
 (36) 
 (79)
 1,113 
 204 

 – 
 725 

– 
 – 

 46 
 96 
 (1,121) 
 373 

 3,136 
 9,804 
 (6,736) 
 6,204 
 (658)
 (10)
 5,536 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27 Operating lease arrangements

The Group as lessee 

Minimum lease payments under operating leases 
recognised as costs for the year 

2014 
Land and 
buildings 
£’000 

2012 
Land and 
buildings 
£’000 

2014 

2012 

Other 
£’000 

Other 
£’000 

2014 

Total 
£’000 

2012 

Total 
£’000

561 

603  

 71  

 88 

 632  

 691 

At the reporting date, the Group had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable  
operating leases, which fall due as follows:

The Group as lessee 

Within one year 
In the second to fifth year inclusive  
After five years 

2014 
Land and 
buildings 
£’000 

442  
 1,230  
 795  
 2,467  

2012 
Land and 
buildings 
£’000 

 353  
 755  
 670  
 1,778  

2014 

2012 

Other 
£’000 

 61  
 114  
– 
 175  

Other 
£’000 

 77  
 80  
– 
 157  

2014 

Total 
£’000 

 503  
 1,344  
 795  
 2,642  

2012 

Total 
£’000

 430 
 835 
670 
 1,935 

Operating lease payments represent rentals payable by the Group for certain office properties, motor vehicles and office  
equipment it uses. Leases are negotiated in isolation, dependent on the trading conditions in the country / region concerned.

Aircraft leasing rental income earned during the year was £nil (2012: £144,000). 

28 Profit for the financial year
The Group financial statements do not include a separate income statement for Air Partner plc (the parent undertaking)  
as permitted by Section 408 of the Companies Act 2006. The parent company profit after tax for the financial year was  
£3,729,000 (2012: £3,580,000) including dividends from subsidiary companies of £1,632,000 (2012: £1,765,000).  
The parent company has no other items of comprehensive income.

29 Related party transactions
The Company had the following transactions with related parties in the ordinary course of business during the year under review.

Trading transactions 

Subsidiaries 
Sales to subsidiaries 
Purchases from subsidiaries  
Amounts owed by subsidiaries at period end 
Amounts owed to subsidiaries at period end 

2014 
£’000 

2012 
£’000

310  
2,401  
 774  
 (23) 

 179 
 1,012 
 1,342 
 (23)

Outstanding balances that relate to trading balances are placed on inter-company accounts with no specific credit period.

Compensation of key management  (being the directors) 

Short-term employee benefits 
Post-employment benefits  
Termination benefits 
Share-based payment 

2014 
£’000 

 1,191  
 59  
 191  
30 
 1,471  

The total amounts for directors’ remuneration in accordance with schedule 5 of the Accounting Regulations were as follows:

Aggregate directors’ remuneration   

Salaries, fees, bonuses and benefits in kind 
Gains on exercise of share options   
Money purchase pension contributions 

2014 
£’000 

 1,382  
 92  
59 
 1,533  

2012 
£’000

 559 
 39 
 – 
73
 671 

2012 
£’000

 559 
 – 
39
 598 

Two (2012: two) directors were members of money purchase schemes. Further information about the remuneration of individual 
directors is provided in the audited part of the Directors’ remuneration report on pages 49 to 53. 

30 Contingent liabilities
The Group had a charge over cash of £376,000 in respect of a passenger sales agency agreement (2012: £240,000).  
Additionally the Group had a bank guarantee for £17,000 (2012: £17,000) lodged in regard to certain employee rights in Dubai. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Designed and produced  
by Imagination.

Printed by CPI Colour.

This report is printed  
on Edixion Challenger  
Offset paper which  
is an FSC accredited,  
uncoated offset stock  
made using 100% ECF pulp.

Air Partner plc
2 City Place
Beehive Ring Road
Gatwick
West Sussex
RH6 0PA

+44 (0)1293 844 800
www.airpartner.com