Aircraft Lessor Net Spread After Depreciation

Aircraft lessor net spread after depreciation and amortization measures lease spread after recognizing the periodic consumption of the asset base. AerCap reported 3.5% annualized net spread less depreciation and amortization for 2025, up from 3.2% in 2024.

The calculation closes from the reported inputs

AerCap reported:

• adjusted net interest margin: $4.827B;
• depreciation and amortization: $2.647B; and
• average lease assets: $61.907B.

That gives:

$4.827B - $2.647B = $2.180B

$2.180B ÷ $61.907B ≈ 3.5%

The arithmetic matches the reported metric.

Depreciation cuts the pre-depreciation spread by more than half

AerCap's annualized net spread was 7.8% before D&A. The after-D&A measure was 3.5%.

That gap matters in aircraft leasing because the revenue-producing asset is also a depreciating physical asset. Ignoring depreciation can make the economics look more like a pure financial spread business than they really are.

It still isn't a full profitability margin

The measure does not subtract every operating expense, tax, impairment charge, gain or loss, or maintenance accounting item. It is a narrower asset-spread measure built around adjusted net interest margin and average lease assets.

Investors can use it to separate financing spread from asset consumption before moving on to full company earnings and return on equity.

Primary source: AerCap full-year 2025 results and metric reconciliation.

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