Cathy Pacific Reports First-Half Profit of HK$6.8Bln

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said Wednesday its first-half profit surged to 6.84 billion Hong Kong dollars ($881 million), or 173.9 Hong Kong dollars per share on a strong recovery in demand.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong’s dominant air carrier, said Wednesday its first-half profit surged to 6.84 billion Hong Kong dollars ($881 million), or 173.9 Hong Kong dollars per share on a strong recovery in demand.

The gain is year-on-year increase of 724.4 percent. Revenue jumped nearly 34 percent to 41.3 billion Hong Kong dollars ($5.3billion).
The air carrier also expected its profit to continue picking up in the next half, but restrictive to external environment.

“Our result would be adversely affected, and very quickly so, by a significant further increase in fuel prices or any return to the recessionary economic conditions of 2008 and much of 2009,” Chairman Christopher Pratt said in a statement.

Fuel costs in the first six months have climbed 51.1 percent compared with the same period of last year, which represent the highest expense for Cathay Pacific.

Core businesses rebounded significantly in the first half with passenger traffic returned to pre-crisis levels, said Cathay Pacific. Earnings generated from cargo traffic jumped 63.1 percent to 11.84 billion Hong Kong dollars while cargo load factor hit a record high of 78 percent, up 11.8 basis points from a year ago. Five airplanes flew out of a desert where they were parked last month as demand rises.

As it announces the strong result, Cathay Pacific said it has signed a letter of intent to buy 30 Airbus A350-900 planes and planned to exercise preemptive for six Boeing 777-300ER passenger planes.

The airline also expects to begin operations at an air-cargo joint venture with affiliate Air China Ltd. in October, the statement said.