Singapore Airlines reports fiscal 1H profit despite challenging market conditions & Tigerair losses

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional subsidiary SilkAir remained profitable in the quarter and half ending 30-Sep-2014 despite extremely challenging market conditions in Southeast Asia. But the group's net profit has been on the decline due primarily to the heavy losses at LCC affiliate Tigerair.

SIA is now in the process of increasing its stake in Tigerair which pending approvals will result in the LCC becoming a subsidiary. SIA is not considering taking over Tigerair entirely and instead will focus on pursuing synergies, particularly with its long-haul LCC subsidiary Scoot, while supporting Tigerair's ongoing turnaround efforts.

SIA's long-term outlook is relatively bright but several components of its strategy, including its investments in the LCC sector and its new full-service joint venture in India, will likely continue to have a negative impact on earnings for the short to medium term. The fact the SIA Group has so far been able to stay in the black overall is a noteworthy accomplishment.