China Airlines posts strong profits, but fuel costs hurt EVA

Driven by strong demand for both passenger and cargo transport, China Airlines (華航) yesterday said after-tax income for the first quarter reached NT$820 million (US$26.2 million), up from NT$696 million a year earlier, with NT$0.26 earnings per share.

The nation's largest air carrier also set a record revenue of NT$24.09 billion for the first three months to last month, representing a 11.7 percent increase from a year ago, the company said in a statement.

Revenue in passenger business amounted to NT$12.87 billion, a 14.2 percent jump from the same period last year with the traffic of northeastern routes growing 19.2 percent from a year ago, the statement said.

EVA Airways Corp (長榮), the nation's second-largest carrier, also reported first-quarter net income fell 29 percent to NT$535.5 million, or NT$0.16 a share, from NT$750.5 million a year earlier, pressured by higher jet fuel costs.

Rising fuel costs pushed up EVA's operating costs to NT$17.82 billion in the first quarter, from NT$16.01 billion in the same period last year, the company said.