Advertisement
Singapore markets closed
  • Straits Times Index

    3,224.01
    -27.70 (-0.85%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,248.96
    +0.47 (+0.01%)
     
  • Dow

    39,823.73
    +63.65 (+0.16%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,399.52
    +83.82 (+0.51%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,938.41
    -418.28 (-0.59%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,955.62
    +23.64 (+0.30%)
     
  • Gold

    2,232.70
    +20.00 (+0.90%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    82.45
    +1.10 (+1.35%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2120
    +0.0160 (+0.38%)
     
  • Nikkei

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,530.60
    -7.82 (-0.51%)
     
  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,288.81
    -21.28 (-0.29%)
     
  • PSE Index

    6,903.53
    +5.36 (+0.08%)
     

Singapore Airlines first-quarter profit falls 59 pct as oil price rise, lower airfares bite

Golf - HSBC Women's Champions 2012 - Tanah Merah Country Club, Garden Course, Singapore - 26/2/12 A Sinapore Airlines Plane during the final round Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jeremy Lee (Reuters)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines Ltd <SIAL.SI> reported a 59 percent fall in first-quarter net profit, below analyst expectations, on Thursday due to a rise in the oil price, lower airfares and a lack of one-off items that had boosted the prior year.

The carrier, a benchmark for Asia's full-service airline industry, earned S$140 million (78.02 million pounds) in the three months ended June 30, down from a revised figure of S$338 million a year before, it said in a stock exchange filing.

The prior-year figure was restated due to accounting changes and had included S$175 million of one-off benefits from changes to its frequent flyer programme accounting and compensation for aircraft delivery slots.

Maybank had forecast a net profit of S$251 million for the first quarter, based on yields, a proxy for airfares, rising by 5.5 percent.

ADVERTISEMENT

Singapore Airlines said yields fell by 3.2 percent during the quarter, bucking a broader global industry trend toward rising yields.

The figure was dragged down by a 10.3 percent decline at regional arm SilkAir, which faces stiff competition from budget carriers like AirAsia Group Bhd <AIRA.KL> and is poised to be merged into the parent brand after 2020.

Group revenues fell 0.5 percent to S$3.84 billion during the quarter, with cargo and passenger revenues rising but not by enough to cover the lack of one-off items from the prior year.

Singapore Airlines said passenger traffic was expected to grow in the coming months, but costs remained under pressure, especially from higher fuel prices.

Fuel costs rose by S$154 million from a year earlier. The company has hedged 46.3 per cent of its fuel for the remaining nine months of the financial year.

In the first quarter yields at the parent brand fell by 1 percent, although it filled a higher percentage of seats to boost overall revenue.

Low-cost subsidiary Scoot and SilkAir posted a combined S$1 million in operating profits, down from S$11 million the prior year. Scoot's yields fell by 1.8 percent.

Singapore Airlines had topped market expectations in May by reporting a 148 percent rise in full-year net profit to the highest level since 2011, as passenger and cargo revenue rose and it benefited from a transformation programme designed to help cut costs and boost revenue.

($1 = 1.3607 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Adrian Croft)