China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$140 million (US$4.95 million), a turnaround from a net loss of NT$1.19 billion in 2019, thanks to the contribution of its air cargo business, which helped to offset a dwindling passenger business amid the COVID-19 pandemic and losses at its other air travel units.
Earnings per share were NT$0.03, compared with losses per share of NT$0.22 in 2019.
The company’s board of directors decided not to distribute a cash dividend this year, a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing said.
Photo courtesy of China Airlines
The airline said that its subsidiaries, such as Taoyuan International Airport Service Co Ltd (桃園航勤), Tigerair Taiwan Co Ltd (台灣虎航) and Kaohsiung Airport Catering Services Ltd (高雄空廚) — in which it owns stakes of 49 to 75 percent — remained in the red last year due to the pandemic.
Thanks to 18 cargo jets and higher freight rates, the airline’s cargo revenue last year increased 88.2 percent to NT$81.69 million, which offset a 78.7 percent decline in passenger revenue, company data showed.
The airline said in a separate regulatory filing that its board of directors had appointed senior vice president Kao Shing-hwang (高星潢), who had worked for the company for 35 years, as president, while chairman Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) would step down from the role.
Hsieh said in a statement that he expects the air cargo business to remain rosy in the second half of this year, while CAL is to continue improving service between Taiwan and the US, as well as expanding its presence in the European and Indian markets.
When the air travel business resumes depends on the progress of vaccinations worldwide, he added.
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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