Air China full year profit up 57 per cent
18 Mar 2008
Air China reported a 19 per cent rise in second-half profit mainly on the back of an appreciating yuan and growth in traffic. It has forecast a gloomier 2008, however, as fuel prices rise and global travel looks likely to slump.
H2 profit, ending 31 December, went up CNY2.66 billion yuan ($375.40 million), as compared to CNY2.23 billion last year. For the full year, the group posted a 57 per cent rise in profit to CNY4.23 billion (almost $597 million).
Profit from operations came in at CNY3.83 billion, up 52.3 percent. Air China's air passenger revenue went up 16.15 per cent, to CNY43.6 billion, in 2007.
With the yuan gaining 6.86 per cent in 2007, net exchange gains more than doubled to CNY2.03 billion ($287 million), accounting for 26.8 per cent of profit before tax.
Though Air China shares more than doubled in 2007, they have slumped more than half since the beginning of the year.
Air China, which is the official carrier for the Beijing Olympic Games, has a cross-shareholding with Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific.
Cathay itself posted an impressive 83 per cent gain of HKD$4.4 billion ($566.5 million) in second-half profit but has a gloomy forecast for 2008.
As with other carriers, Air China experienced rising fuel costs as well, which were up 9.45 per cent to CNY17.2 billion ($2.43 billion) for the full year.
