Aircraft Lessor SMBC’s Proceeds From Russian Jet Insurance Settlements Hit $1.4B

Aircraft lessor SMBC Aviation Capital has booked a further $654 million in proceeds from insurance settlements over the past year related to jets stranded in Russia following Western sanctions, the Irish-headquartered company said on Thursday.

That brought SMBC’s total recoveries from claims following the sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine to $1.41 billion. It was one of six lessors that ended an Irish lawsuit against their insurers last month following a series of settlements.

SMBC recorded an impairment of $1.6 billion in 2022 to cover the full financial impact of having 34 jets stuck in Russia after the sanctions forced the termination of all Russian leases.

The world’s third-largest aircraft lessor gave the update in its full year results to the end of March, which showed pretax profits rose 22% year-on-year to a company record $563 million, excluding the benefit of the insurance settlements.

SMBC, owned by a consortium including Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, said its core lease rental revenue grew by 3% to $2 billion and its asset sales hit $1.9 billion following the sale of 48 older aircraft.

(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Jamie Freed)