Singapore Air net falls on fines, lags estimates: UpdateWRITTEN BY BLOOMBERG |
FRIDAY, 28 JANUARY 2011 17:51 |
Singapore Airlines, the world’s second-largest carrier by market value, reported a worse-than- estimated 29% drop in third-quarter profit after it booked charges relating to antitrust cargo fines.
Net income declined to $288.3 million in the three months ended December from $404 million a year earlier, the carrier said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange today. Profit was expected to be $299 million, based on the average of six analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Singapore Air made a provision of $199 million for the fines. The carrier flew fewer passengers and filled a smaller proportion of seats as budget airlines Jetstar and Tiger Airways Holdings lured away cost-conscious travelers. New Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong also faces renewed competition from Cathay Pacific Airways and Middle East carriers for lucrative premium fliers. “Singapore Air has lagged behind compared with regional peers,” Kelvin Lau, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research, said before the earnings. “They need to focus on improving their margins and work harder on the traffic side.” Singapore Air was unchanged at $15.04 at the close of trading today. The stock rose 2.4% last year, while the 15-member of the Bloomberg Asia-Pacific Airlines Index surged 28%. The results were released after the market closed.
SIA VERSUS CATHAY Passenger yield, the average price a traveler pays to fly one kilometer, was 12.1 cents in the quarter compared with 10.5 cents a year earlier. The carrier flew 4.37 million passengers in the three months ended December, 0.9% fewer than a year before. It filled 79.7% of its total available seats, down from 82.4%. The decline in passenger numbers contrasts with Cathay Pacific, which reported increases every month in the quarter. The Hong Kong-based carrier is also rolling out new business- class cabins in a bid to win more executive travelers. Dubai- based Emirates Airline is challenging Singapore Air as it builds up a fleet of 90 Airbus SAS A380s. Singapore Air’s advance passenger bookings for the quarter ending in March are “leveling off,” the carrier said in its outlook. Growth in air cargo is also expected to slow, it said. The carrier made the provision after the European Union imposed a fine last year on its freight unit for coordinating fuel and security surcharges. CARGO FINES While the carrier accepted the plea offer made by the United States Department of Justice, it is appealing fines imposed by the European Commission and the South Korean Fair Trade Commission and intends to contest the charges, it said in today’s statement. The airline’s spending on fuel, its biggest expense, climbed 8% to $1.11 billion in the quarter. Goh, who took over as Singapore Air CEO on Jan. 1, faces low-cost competition from Qantas Airways Ltd.’s Jetstar, which operates a hub in the city-state and plans to boost Asia capacity 30% this year. Tiger Air, also based in Singapore and parted-owned by Singapore Air, today said profit jumped 60% in the quarter ended December to $22.6 million. Singapore Air “is unlikely to shrug off the challenges of the Gulf and low-cost airlines any time soon,” Andrew Orchard, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, wrote in a Jan. 19 report. “As low-cost operators start to expand their networks into longer-haul destinations, we believe strong demand growth is unlikely.”
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