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PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Bhd recorded a net loss of RM51.44 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 (Q3 19), from a net profit of RM915.88 million, due to a fair value loss on derivatives of RM238 million and a unrealised losses on foreign exchange of RM112 million.
In its filing with Bursa Malaysia, the group noted that the net profit for Q3 18 included a one-off gain from the disposal of its investment in an associate.
Non-airline pre-tax earnings were down 33% to RM29 million, due to larger losses for BigPay and AirAsia.com as BigPay expands its user base and AirAsia.com ramps up operations.
Revenue for the quarter came in at RM3.07 billion, 17.5% higher than RM2.61 billion at the same time last year, mainly attributed to a 20% increase in total number of passengers carried and a 1% increase in revenue per available seat-kilometre (RASK).
In Malaysia, capacity for the quarter grew 10%, while Indonesia AirAsia added 10% and Philippines AirAsia added the highest capacity at 19%.
On a cumulative nine-month basis, AirAsia’s net profit plunged 96.7% to RM80.72 million, from RM2.42 billion a year before. Revenue, however, rose 16.8% to RM9.09 billion, from RM7.78 billion.
Looking ahead, the group said load factors and fares for the rest of 2019 are expected to remain strong for the airline business.
“Our strategy remains to gain dominance in the countries we operate in, especially within the Asean region, and building tourism in lower tier cities. In 2019, we plan for a net fleet growth of 18 aircraft,” it said in its filing.
AirAsia said it actively monitors and manages its exposure to fuel price volatility.
“We have hedged 65% of FY2019 require-ments at USD62.77 per barrel and 73% of FY2020 requirements at USD60.22 per barrel.”
It also said it would work on reducing costs and continue to invest in digtalisation.
“The group continues to invest in building digital platforms, in line with its vision to be the leading travel and financial platform. Teleport, our logistics arm, also took a significant step in disrupting the logistics industry by launching Teleport.social in September 2019, where Teleport will provide beyond the traditional B2B air cargo business and facilitate C2C commerce via social media.
“BigPay, our financial service provider also passed a milestone by launching its fully digital international remittance service, enabling customers to instantly transfer money from their BigPay account directly to bank accounts in Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia,” it said.
Based on this, AirAsia said, it is confident that its core performance will be positive in the last quarter of the year.
