EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) on Friday reported that it saw a marked profit gain last quarter over a year ago on rising demand for passengers and cargo transport.
Net income during the period ending Sept. 30 surged 92.4 percent annually to NT$4.53 billion (NT$150.14 million), EVA said in a statement.
Earnings per share were NT$1.08 last quarter, compared with NT$0.56 the previous year. In the second quarter, the carrier made earnings of NT$0.39 per share, company data showed.
Photo: Chen Yi-chia, Taipei Times
The carrier attributed the gains to expanded flights to North American and North Asian destinations.
In the first nine months of the year, EVA saw its overall passenger load factor — a measurement of how full its planes are — rise 8.9 percent from a year earlier, thanks to the carrier’s wider offering of North Asian destinations and a weaker Japanese yen.
Rising consumer spending also led to a 5.6 percent rise in air cargo transport pricing and a 5.8 percent gain in cargo transport volume, despite a 2.7 percent dip in capacity, EVA said.
The carrier has taken delivery of a new Boeing 777 freighter — currently the biggest wide-body twin-engine aircraft in the world — that is scheduled to begin transporting cargo between North Asia and North America by the end of this month, it said.
This year, the carrier pushed for a fleet upgrade to meet rising travel and cargo transport demand while reducing fuel consumption compared with older aircraft.
The upgrade, plus a recovery in demand, helped lift its accumulated net income in the first nine months to NT$5.37 billion, 15 percent higher than the previous year, with earnings per share of NT$1.28, company data showed.
Meanwhile, EVA’s board on Friday approved the retirement of president Derek Chen (陳憲弘), the carrier said, adding that it has appointed passenger management division executive vice president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) to serve as president as of Jan. 1.
Separately, China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) on Monday reported that its net income last quarter rose markedly to NT$2.95 billion, compared with NT$513 million the previous year.
Net income in the first nine months came to NT$952 million. After a net loss of NT$2 billion for the first half of the year, the earnings put the nation’s largest carrier back in the black. Earnings per share were NT$0.17.
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