Specialist Aviation Services have appointed Nick Pike (pictured) as a director of both Specialist Aviation Services Ltd (“SAS”) and Specialist Aviation Services Group Ltd (“SAS Group”), effective 6th September – according to public filings for SAS and SAS Group with Companies House, the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the register of companies.

In his bio on the website of his company Pike Restructuring states:-

“Nick Pike is a restructuring specialist with 30 years’ experience in the sector. A qualified solicitor, he has worked as a partner in three of the UK’s most highly regarded firms, DLA Piper, Lawrence Graham (where he headed the Banking team) and Pinsent Masons (where he led the Restructuring team). Nick retired from legal practice in October 2020 and now undertakes advisory roles in businesses requiring his expertise. He is happy to act as a director where required and has experience in restructuring, management and governance. Sectoral interests and experience involve travel (particularly aviation), regulated consumer finance businesses, retail and leisure, healthcare, manufacturing, media and property”

The appointment of a restructuring specialist leads us to look at aspects of the published accounts for SAS Group for the year to 31 December 2022. These show turnover level in 2022 at £28.440M compared to 2021. Additionally, the group made a profit before tax of £3.210M after including three exceptional items with a net positive value of £10.935M

• £0.732M “Impairment of stock” (as an additional cost)
• £8.749M “Exceptional item as a result of the refinancing programme in Q1 2022” (a positive contribution to the Profit for the financial year)
• £2.918M “Profit on disposal of aircraft”

In the previous three years, SAS Group reported losses totaling £17.394M

• 2021 accounts loss before tax = £5.925M
• 2020 accounts loss before tax = £8.275M
• 2019 accounts loss before tax = £3.194M

During 2023 to date, five helicopters previously registered to SAS on the UK CAA register are now in different names.  One currently remains in the UK with another operator, while the destinations of three others have been validated with the websites of the authorities in Belgium and Austria (Register filings in these countries are all public domain).

• MD Explorer G-HAAT to European Support Center BV (“ESC”) in Belgium. This is an administrative change as ESC and SAS are both subsidiaries of SAS Group.
• MD Explorer G-EHAA also to ESC
• MD Explorer G-HMDX to Heli Austria
• Leonardo AW169 G-SASX to NHV

Additionally, MD Explorer G-COTH was taken off the UK register earlier this year, marked as “Permanently withdrawn from use”.

Editor Note – The content of this report is entirely focused on information in the public domain without providing any analysis.  Please consult with appropriately qualified professionals in reviewing published financial accounts.