Thai Airways “back on our feet”; Qantas expecting 1HFY2010 profit; Double digit China traffic growth
Thai Airways Chairman, Ampon Kittiampon, stated the carrier's financial performance has been better than expected, with a positive result now likely for the full year, after a better-than-targeted EBITDA of USD783 million in the 11 months to Nov-2009. Yields are also on the improve, up 10.5% in Nov-2009. Thai Airways' shares remained stable on Friday.
The results prompted Mr Kittiampon to state that the carrier is now "back on our feet". He added, "we now have a stable financial standing, cashflow is in a safety range, load factor, cargo and passenger volumes are on the rise".
Qantas expects profit of up to USD133 million in 1HFY2009/2010
Qantas' shares remained unchanged on Friday, and rose the most in almost three weeks in Sydney trading this morning (shares gaining as much as 4.7% and currently up 1.8%), after the carrier stated it expects profit before tax in the AUD50-150 million (USD44-133 million) range in the six months ending 31-Dec-2009.
CFO, Colin Storrie, stated the carrier expects domestic demand to recover faster than international demand, although the carrier is now starting to see an improvement in forward bookings for international operations, but it would "be a while" until its 5% increase in fares improves revenues.
During Nov-2009, Qantas Group's passenger numbers were up 97% to 3.5 million, driven predominantly by Jetstar growth, with a load factor improvement of 4.0 ppts to 82.3%. Yields in the five months to Nov-2009 were down 8.9% for domestic operations and -23.2% on international operations.
See related report: Qantas expects AUD50-150 million profit in 1HFY2009/2010; Yields on the improve in Nov-2009
China traffic remains in positive territory across the board in Nov-2009
Chinese Mainland carriers experienced continued traffic gains in Nov-2009, with double-digit passenger and cargo growth in the month.
CAAC traffic highlights: Nov-2009
|
|
Nov-2009 |
% Change |
|---|---|---|
|
Passenger Numbers (mill) |
19.6 |
+18.1% |
|
Domestic (mill) |
18.3 |
+18.6% |
|
International (mill) |
1.3 |
+11.8% |
|
477,000 |
+14.7% |
|
|
Cargo Volume (tonnes) |
450,000 |
+35.5% |
|
Domestic |
309.000 |
+33.7% |
|
International |
141,002 |
+39.5% |
|
18,304 |
+60.1% |
China's airlines handled 19.6 million passengers in Nov-2009, an 18.0% year-on-year increase. While domestic passenger growth has remained strong in the past 12 months, international passenger growth has now been in positive territory for five consecutive months.
CAAC domestic and international passenger numbers growth : Nov-2008 to Nov-2009
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & CAAC
On the cargo front, cargo volume was also up by double-digits, and by a greater extent than in passenger operations, in the busy pre-Christmas period. The cargo 35.5% cargo growth was driven by growth across the board (HK/Macau: +60%, international: +40%, domestic: +34%).
CAAC passenger numbers growth and cargo volume growth: Nov-2008 to Nov-2009
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & CAAC
In Japan, shares in LCC, Skymark Airlines, soared 7.8%, while Japan Airlines' shares gained 3.0%.
Unit revenues up among major Indian airlines in Nov-2009
The shares prices of Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Kingfisher Airlines have gained 25%, 13% and 8% in the past month, driven by sustained passenger traffic improvements, with increased passenger traffic, improved load factors and a 30% improvements in unit revenue (per passenger kilometer) among the major airlines in Nov-2009 (compared to Oct-2009 levels).
Spicejet, Jet Airways and Kingfisher share price index: Jan-2009 to Dec-2009
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Rediff
On Friday, Kingfisher's shares gained 0.9%, with Jet Airways and SpiceJet both weaker, down 3.3% and 3.6%, respectively.
Asia Pacific selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 18-Dec-09
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Reuters
*Malaysia stock exchange closed due to public holiday