Singapore Airlines posts 27% drop in 3Q earnings to $284 mil on higher fuel costs

SINGAPORE (Feb 15): Singapore Airlines (SIA) reported 3Q19 earnings declined 27% to $284.1 million, compared to $389.2 million in 3Q18.

For 9M19, group earnings came in at $480.1 million, 53% lower than its 9M18 earnings of $1.02 billion.

Revenue for the quarter was 6.5% higher at $4.34 billion from $4.08 billion in the previous year, largely driven by a 7.7% y-o-y growth in passenger demand.

Passenger traffic for the Group rose 8.0%, which outpaced the growth in capacity, resulting in a 0.9 percentage-point improvement in passenger load factor to 83.0%.

Group RASK (measured in revenue per available seat-kilometres) increased 1.3% as transformation programme momentum continued. Cargo flown revenue remained steady against last year, increasing 0.5% y-o-y, as stronger yields offset the lower loads carried.

Revenue contribution by engineering services rose 14.2% y-o-y, led by higher airframe maintenance activities.

Expenditure increased by 9.1% y-o-y to $3.95 billion, mainly due to higher net fuel cost.

Except for Scoot, all entities in the group registered an operating profit for the period, albeit weaker against last year. Revenue growth for the group airlines was mostly overshadowed by higher net fuel cost.

As at end-Dec, the group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $1.32 billion.

On the outlook, amid Brexit and US-China trade war uncertainties clouding the overall demand for both passenger and cargo, the group will continue to be nimble and proactive in responding to pockets of weakness or opportunity by rebalancing supply across the network.

Shares in SIA last traded 1.44% higher at $9.87 on Thursday.