United Continental Holdings operating profit down 79% in 3Q2012

United Continental Holdings revenue down 3% - financial highlights for three months ended 30-Sep-2012:

• Total operating revenue: USD9909 million, -2.6% year-on-year;
• Total operating costs: USD9709 million, +5.1%;
  • Fuel: USD3406 million, +1.0%;
  • Labour: USD2038 million, +0.9%;
• Operating profit: USD200 million, -78.6%;
• Net profit: USD6 million, -99.1%;
• Passenger numbers: 37.6 million, -1.1%;
• Passenger load factor: 85.2%, -0.1 ppt;
• Yield: USD 15.66 cents, -1.2%;
• Passenger revenue per ASM: USD 13.35 cents, -1.3%;
• Total revenue per ASM: USD 15.07 cents, -1.2%;
• Operating cost per ASM: USD 14.77 cents, +6.6%;
• Cost per ASM excl fuel, special charges and third party business expenses: USD 8.72 cents, +2.1%;
• 4Q2012 forecast:
  
  • Capacity (ASMs): -3.2% to -2.2%;
    
    • Mainline: -3.3% to -2.3%;
      
      • Domestic: -3.8% to -2.8%;
      • Atlantic: -4.9% to -3.9%;
      • Pacific: -1.4% to -0.4%;
      • Latin America: -0.6% to +0.4%;
  • Operating cost per ASM excl profit sharing, fuel and third party business expense: USD 14.65 cents to USD1.74 cents;
• FY2012 forecast:
  
  • Capacity: -1.2% to -1.0%;
    
    • Mainline: -1.2% to -0.9%;
      
      • Domestic: -2.2% to -1.9%;
      • Atlantic: -3.0% to -2.8%;
      • Pacific: +2.7% to +3.0%;
      • Latin America: +1.5% to +1.8%;
  • Operating cost per ASM excl profit sharing, fuel and third party business expense: USD 14.17 cents to USD 14.19 cents. [more - original PR]

United Continental Holdings: "This was a challenging quarter for our team, but we continued to build a solid financial foundation for our future. We made progress strengthening our balance sheet, managing our costs and making the right long-term investments that will contribute to our goal of generating returns in excess of our cost of capital," John Rainey, EVP and CFO. Source: Company statement, 25-Oct-2012.