The nation’s two biggest airlines reported a decline in revenue last month from the same month a year ago due to the impact of weak demand in the cargo sector, even as they posted sequential growth in monthly passenger sales.
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), the nation’s largest carrier, posted NT$11.45 billion (US$384.23 million) in consolidated sales last month, down 1.85 percent from a year earlier and 2.14 percent from March, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Accumulated sales totaled NT$44.47 billion in the first four months, down 1.65 percent from a year ago, company data showed.
The carrier’s passenger sales totaled NT$7.53 billion last month, up 10.09 percent from a year earlier and 1.48 percent from a month earlier.
However, weak demand in the cargo sector continued last month, causing CAL’s cargo sales to fall 10.99 percent year-on-year and 14.36 percent month-on-month to NT$3.16 billion last month.
“It will be difficult for the air cargo sector to stage a significant rebound this year, since global sentiment continues to be weak and uncertain,” Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) said in a research note last week.
EVA Airways Corp (EVA, 長榮航空), the nation’s second-largest carrier, also reported a drop in consolidated revenue, shedding 3.35 percent to NT$9.95 billion last month compared with the same period a year earlier.
However, last month’s figure did represent a 4.02 percent from March, the company said in a stock exchange filling.
Sales in the first four months totaled NT$38.67 billion, down 0.28 percent year-on-year, EVA said.
EVAs passenger sales reached NT$5.34 billion last month, up 6.37 percent from a year earlier, but down 3.78 percent from a month earlier.
Revenue from its cargo business fell 10.4 percent year-on-year and 9.49 percent month-on-month to NT$2.67 billion last month.
However, smaller rival TransAsia Airways Corp (TNA, 復興航空) saw its consolidated revenue last month climb 27.64 percent from a year earlier and 7.33 percent from a month earlier to NT$1.06 billion.
Since the second half of last year, TNA has increased its focus on its regional passenger business, while also launching more international routes, a strategy that helped its revenue in the first four months rise 21.33 percent from a year ago to NT$3.79 billion.
Capital Securities said it expected the airline sector would see passenger sales bottom out this month and rebound from next month on the back of rising seasonal demand.
Sales of the three carriers are expected to reach their highest level of the year next quarter, the brokerage said.
In addition, the three carriers announced last week that they would begin flying new cross-strait routes next month, which is expected to help drive passenger sales during the summer, it said.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
RSS