Japan Airlines cuts outlook as H1 net profit dives

The Business Times – Oct 31, 2016 – [TOKYO] Japan Airlines on Monday slashed its full-year earnings outlook as it said fiscal first-half net profit nosedived owing to a slump in its international business.

The carrier said its bottom line in the six months through September shrank to 71.4 billion yen (S$949.4 million), down more than 30 per cent from a year ago, with a stronger yen also taking a toll.

The firm warned that full-year net profit would come in at 161 billion yen, down from an earlier estimate of 192 billion yen for the year through March.

By contrast, rival carrier All Nippon Airways said it cruised to another rise in net profit, pointing to cost-cutting efforts and a pickup in business travel from Europe, North America and Asia.

The carrier’s parent, ANA Holdings, posted net profit of 57.4 billion yen for the six months to September, up 6.4 per cent from a year ago, although revenue edged down 2.9 per cent to 885.0 billion yen.

The firm said its profit gain was largely due to “tight operational management and control of expenses”.

ANA left its net profit forecast unchanged at 80 billion yen but slightly trimmed its full-year sales projection to 1.74 trillion from 1.8 trillion.

AFP

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