Cathay Pacific Group reports strong profit growth in 1H2014, expects business to be better in 2H

Cathay Pacific Group revenue up 5% - financial highlights for six months ended 30-Jun-2014:

• Revenue: HKD50,840 million (USD6555 million), +4.6% year-on-year;
• • Passenger: HKD36,520 million (USD4709 million), +4.4%;
  • Cargo: HKD11,663 million (USD1504 million), +3.4%;
• Operating costs: HKD49,264 million (USD6352 million), +3.6%;
• • Fuel: HKD18,930 million (USD2441 million), +1.4%;
  • Labour: HKD8899 million (USD1147 million), +5.5%;
• Operating profit: HKD1576 million (USD203.2 million), +52.3%;
• Net profit: HKD347 million (USD44.7 million), +1346%;
• Passenger numbers: 15.4 million, +6.5%;
• Passenger load factor: 83.6%, +2.3 ppts;
• Passenger yield: HKD 66.6 cents (USD 8.6 cents), -3.5%;
• Cargo volume: 804,000 tonnes, +8.5%;
• Cargo load factor: 63.2%, +0.8 ppt;
• Cargo yield: HKD2.17 (USD 28.0 cents), -6.9%;
• Total assets: HKD166,243 million (USD21,434 million);
• Liquid funds: HKD20,241 million (USD2610 million);
• Total liabilities: HKD10,265 million (USD13,572 million). [more - original PR] [more - CAPA Analysis]
  

*Based on the average conversion rate at USD1 = HKD7.7559

Cathay Pacific Group: "We expect business to be better in the second half of 2014. The operating environment for the Cathay Pacific Group - and the aviation industry as a whole - remains challenging. We face significant competition in our passenger business. This makes it difficult to maintain yields. The air cargo business remains problematic because of excess capacity. Intense competition similarly puts pressure on yield. On the plus side, we continue to strengthen our passenger network and the connections available through Hong Kong. The high quality of our products and services increases our attractiveness to passengers.
We expect our new freighter fleet and new cargo terminal to allow us to compete successfully in the air cargo market in the long term," John Slosar, Chairman. Source: Company statement, 13-Aug-2014.