Bidding farewell to a couple of tough years, China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), the nation’s largest carrier, posted an increase of NT$8.78 billion (US$279.1 million) in revenues, or 39.4 percent year-on-year, in the first quarter of this year.
With impressive performances in both its passenger and cargo flight businesses, the company’s earnings per share in the first quarter were NT$0.60, compared with a loss of NT$0.76 per share in the same period last year.
China Airlines chairman Philip Wei (魏幸雄) said at a press luncheon in Taoyuan yesterday that the company’s financial structure had become healthier than it was last year and that fundamentals would remain solid in the second quarter of this year.
“In the past two years, the global financial crisis, soaring global oil prices and the swine flu breakout dealt the strongest blow to the aviation industry in history and China Airlines has managed to get through the difficult times,” Wei said.
Wei attributed the large improvement in revenues to the global economic recovery, direct cross-strait transportation links, and strong growth momentum in the cargo and passenger flight businesses.
China Airlines shares yesterday rose 6.43 percent to close at NT$13.25 in Taipei trading, their highest level since July 3, 2007, when they hit NT$13.45 per share.
Turnover increased from last Friday’s 11.06 million shares to 48.69 million, the highest since April 15, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s Web site.
The company’s debt-to-assets ratio last quarter declined to 79.4 percent from the 85.95 percent registered in the same period last year, with the liquidity ratio climbing 90.82 percent from a year ago to 57.8 percent, Wei said.
The net asset value per share in the first quarter was NT$9.56, up from the NT$6.25 recorded in the same period last year, he said.
However, the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland, which inflicted heavy losses on many European carriers, caused the company to lose more than NT$100 billion in revenues and would result in a decline of about NT$10 million in profits, the company said.
Citing uncertainties, such as natural disasters, Wei declined to predict revenues in the second quarter, but said the strong momentum would continue.
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