AirAsia Group Q1 earnings jump 86.62%

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Group Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 jumped 86.62% to RM1.09 billion from RM584.25 million a year ago due to growth in the business and a remeasurement gain from the disposal of a subsidiary.
AirAsia Group results encompasses Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippine units.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the group reported a RM534.7 million remeasurement gain from the disposal of Ground Team Red Holdings Sdn Bhd, which was partially offset by current and deferred taxation charges of RM104 million during the quarter.
During the quarter, the group’s other income grew more than four times to RM480.67 million from RM111.89 million a year ago due to a RM350.3 million gain on disposal of interest in Ground Team Red and RM33.8 million gain on sales and leaseback of aircraft recorded during the quarter.
Revenue for the quarter rose 14.76% to RM2.56 billion from RM2.23 billion a year ago due to a 16% increase in total passengers carried. The group carried 10.65 million passengers during the quarter compared with 9.15 million passengers carried a year ago.
Capacity grew 19% during the quarter to 12.20 million seats from 10.27 million seats a year ago while load factor was lower at 87% compared with 89% a year ago.
Average fare remained constant at RM171 year-on-year, while the overall revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) of the group declined 2% to 14.68 sen during the quarter from 14.91 sen a year ago.
Thai AirAsia Co Ltd recorded revenue of THB11.27 billion during the quarter, 23% higher than THB9.16 billion a year ago, supported by the number of passengers carried, which grew 16% to 5.64 million from 4.85 million a year ago.
Capacity rose 15% to 6.22 million seats from 5.42 million seats a year ago while load factor rose to 91% from 89% a year ago. Its net profit stood at THB1.83 billion during the quarter compared with THB1.04 billion a year ago.
AirAsia (India) Limited recorded revenue of INR4.83 billion during the quarter, 76% higher than INR2.75 billion a year ago. The associate company’s net loss worsened to INR974.3 million during the quarter compared with INR426.4 million net loss a year ago.
The number of passengers carried rose 74% to 1.47 million from 844,964 a year ago while capacity grew 87% to 1.77 million seats from 945,180 seats a year ago. Load factor was lower at 83% compared with 89% a year ago.
AirAsia Japan Co., Ltd, which officially started operations on Oct 29, 2017, suffered a net loss of RM36.6 million during the quarter, of which RM21.5 million is equity accounted in the financial statements of AirAsia Bhd.
The group, which declared an interim single-tier dividend of 12 sen to be paid on July 13, 2018, expects to achieve an average load factor of 87% in the second quarter this year based on the existing forward booking trend of its Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippine units.
The group is planning for a net increase of additional three aircraft through operating leases in the second quarter of 2018. It is also actively reducing costs by driving more ancillary sales and ensuring better performance by all associates airlines in order to mitigate cost pressure from fuel.
The group will be undergoing a secondary listing exercise for its Indonesia operations this year and is on track to list AirAsia Philippines in the second half of 2019.
AirAsia Group’s share price fell 1.22% or 4 sen to close at RM3.23 with a total of 12.68 million shares traded.