SIA profits climb in 2013
Guest Writers are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the specific writer directly
Singapore Airlines (SIA) achieved a strong increase in profits in the first three quarters of its financial year.
For the nine months from April to December 2014, the national carrier generated a net profit of SG$332 million (US$262m), marking an improvement of 7%, or SG$21m, compared the equivalent period in 2012.
Group revenue climbed 1.6% to SG$11.6 billion, a result SIA attributed to growth in passenger traffic and changes in aircraft delivery slots. Group expenditure also increased – mainly due to staff costs – but at a slower pace of 1.2%. Operating profits jumped 17% to SG$320m.
SIA’s nine-month result was boosted by a strong rise in profits in the third quarter of the year. In the three months between September and December 2013 the mainline carrier’s operating profit was SG$130m, up 49% year-on-year, while its regional subsidiary SilkAir generated SG$6m in the same period, down 82%. SilkAir’s deterioration in performance was put down a demand-supply imbalance, following the airline’s efforts to develop routes to emerging destinations.
SIA carried 4.78m passengers in its third quarter, 2.1% more than the same period in 2012. This growth outpaced a 0.5% expansion of available seat capacity, allowing average load factors to climb slightly, to 79.4%.
SIA took delivery of one new Airbus A330-300 and decommissioned four A340-500s in the last quarter. This means that SIA now operates a fleet of 100 passenger aircraft – 56 Boeing 777s, 25 A330-300s and 19 A380s.
SilkAir meanwhile, now operates a fleet of 24 aircraft – 18 A320s and six A319s – but recently took delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with a second due to arrive in March. This will allow the airline to release two A320s.
Looking forward, SIA said it would focus on maintaining “disciplined” control on costs”, while adjusting capacity to match demand.
Comments are closed.