American Airlines profits up on tax benefit, cheap fuel
American Airlines reported a big jump in fourth-quarter earnings Friday due to lower fuel costs and a large tax allowance.
Earnings for the quarter ending December 31 came in at $3.3 billion, about five times the $597 million in the year-ago period.
Revenues were $9.6 billion, down 5.2 percent from the year-ago period.
Results were boosted by much lower fuel costs, which fell more than 40 percent to $1.3 billion.
An even bigger factor was a $3 billion tax allowance following a review of deferred tax assets.
On the downside, American reported a drop of six percent to 12.69 cents in consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile, a closely-watched industry benchmark.
American's results translated into $2.00 per share, excluding one-time items. That was three cents above analyst expectations.
For the year, American reported net income of $7.6 billion, up from $2.9 billion in 2014.