China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), the nation’s largest carrier, yesterday reported its sixth quarterly loss in a row, caused by the slowing global economy.
But the Taipei-based carrier saw improved financial results in the first quarter, thanks to falling oil prices, increased cross-strait flights and effective cost control measures, CAL said in a statement.
The company’s net loss totaled NT$2.96 billion (US$89 million), or NT$0.62 per share in the first three months of the year, CAL said. That compared with a net loss of NT$2.97 billion a year earlier and a loss of NT$19.94 billion in the previous quarter.
The last time CAL saw a quarterly profit was in the third quarter of 2007, when it posted NT$775 million.
On a positive note, the company saw an operating profit of NT$430 million for the quarter — also its first since the third quarter of 2007 — representing growth from NT$2.46 billion in losses a year earlier.
In terms of non-operating expenses and losses for the first quarter, CAL posted a fuel-hedging loss of NT$2.59 billion and a cost of NT$867 million for convertible bonds with a special reset price in February.
Despite economic challenges, CAL said it expects to see rising quarterly revenue for the rest of the year because of more flights between Taiwan and China, as well as continued capacity adjustments and cost controls.
Revenue in the first quarter fell 26 percent year-on-year to NT$23.1 billion, and was down 18 percent from the previous quarter. The carrier attributed the drop mainly to a decline of 53 percent in cargo business, compared with a drop of only 7 percent in passenger traffic.
CAL shares rose limit-up to NT$9.03 yesterday. The shares have risen 18.5 percent this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
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