Delta Air Lines Inc, the US’ third-largest carrier, said yesterday its loss widened in the first quarter to a massive US$6.39 billion because of soaring fuel prices and the steep decline in the company’s market value.
The results badly missed Wall Street expectations, despite a 12 percent increase in sales.
The company said the loss is equivalent to US$16.15 a share. That compares with a loss of US$130 million that Delta reported in the first quarter last year, when it was still in bankruptcy.
Excluding special items, primarily a US$6.1 billion non-cash charge relating to the decline in Delta’s market value because of sustained record fuel prices, the airline lost US$274 million, or US$0.69 a share, in the first quarter.
EXPECTATIONS
Analysts were expecting a Delta loss of US$0.49 a share, excluding one-time items.
Revenue in the quarter rose to US$4.77 billion, compared with US$4.24 billion recorded in the same period a year ago. Delta shares rose US$0.10 in premarket trading to US$6.90, just off a 52-week low of US$6.70.
Delta said its first-quarter loss before special items was driven by a US$585 million year-over-year increase in the cost of fuel.
POST-BANKRUPTCY
Delta’s shares have fallen nearly 69 percent since the airline emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 30 last year.
Gas and oil prices pushed further into record high territory on Tuesday, with retail gas reaching a US national average of US$3.51 for the first time and crude nearing US$120.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last