MH riduce le perdite

[SQpps]

Struggling Malaysia Airlines on Monday posted a 136.4 million ringgit (39 million dollars) net loss for the 2006 financial year, a better-than-expected result after undergoing major restructuring.

[landingFCO]

February 26, 2007

Malaysia Airlines Profitable Q4 06, Eyes RM700 Mln Profit In 2007

PETALING JAYA, Feb 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines Monday announced a net profit of RM121 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2006.

This was its second consecutive profitable quarter since the unveiling of its business turnaround plan in February last year.

In Q4 2006, the national airline recorded an operating profit of RM94 million.

For the full year of 2006, Malaysia Airlines managed to exceed the RM1.1 billion profit target contained in the business turnaround plan.

It posted an after tax loss of only RM136 million for the entire year, which meant a RM1.6 billion improvement over the RM1.7 billion loss suffered in 2005.

Malaysia Airlines managing director Idris Jala told a press conference here that the national carrier was positive that it could stage an outstanding performance by chalking up a profit of up to RM700 million in 2007.

"If we can achieve a profit of between RM50 and RM99 million (for 2007), it will be on target. If the profit goes up between RM100 million and RM299 million, it would be exceeding our target. If we could achieve between RM300 million and RM700 million, it would be an outstanding performance," he said.

Under its business turnaround plan, Malaysia Airlines has targeted a profit RM50 million for 2007 but Idris said was optimistic on the outlook, based on the performance of what it had achieved in 2006.

Its strong performance in 2006, he said, was mainly driven by two key factors -- a marked increased in passenger revenue and cost reduction.

He said the second consecutive operational profit clearly showed the success of its BTP, which was heavily focused on delivering immediate results by anchoring everything on the profit and loss (P&L).

"This single-mindedness had enabled us to achieve so much in just one year. We have exceeded all our BTP financial targets for Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4.

"We have succeeded in significantly reducing our annual losses by beating the RM1.1 billion BTP target through revenue enhancement and cost reduction. In fact, we would have made a net profit of RM676 mln this year if the fuel price and aircraft leases had remained constant," he said when announcing the results. Idris also said that cargo subsidiary MASKargo's record profits this year was a major contributor to the group's financial performance.

"Cargo has surpassed its RM150 mln profit target under the leadership of Datuk J.J Ong and his team who were focused on delivering results.

"We are also in a stable cash position having improved our cash from around RM1.5 billion to RM1.8 billion," he said.

Idris said Malaysia Airlines would continue to implement its BTP and could not afford to be complacent.

"We are not out of the woods (yet). And yes, there is more to do. For 2007, we will continue the momentum and intensify our BTP initiative to generate profit," he stressed.

Idris said these initiatives included the Malaysian Hospitality Campaign, project Alpha and Omega, Passenger Services System and continued cost reduction.

"With this steadfastness, I am confident we will achieve a net profit of RM50 million this year," he said.

For the fourth quarter of 2006, the airline's domestic business made an operating profit (before finance cost and exceptional item) of RM36 million.

Passenger revenue was up 18 percent to RM2.55 billion from RM2.173 billion in Q4 2005.

Yield (defined as revenue per revenue passenger kilometre) recorded a significant increase of 25 percent to 25.7 sen revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) compared to 20.7 sen per RPK in Q4 2005.

Revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) grew 24 per cent to 17.8 sen/ASK from 14.4 sen/ASK.

Cargo revenue was up by eight percent to RM687.5 million from RM634 million due to higher load, which increased to 66.8 percent from 61.3 percent.

However, due to more long haul services, yield decreased by 4.0 percent to 94.6 sen from 98.3 sen per load tonne kilometre (LTKM).

The airline also saw a total cost saving of RM138 million due to savings in fuel cost as a result of lower consumption attributed to its network restructuring and more efficient fuel practices despite higher fuel prices and adjustment to sales incentives.

For its full year's 2006 results, Idris said the improvement was the result of a considerable increase in revenue due to major improvements in passenger and cargo yields, network restructuring, improvement in productivity and cost savings.

Passenger revenue was up 10 percent to RM9.308 billion compared to RM8.501 billion during the year under review despite a reduction in capacity.

Yield increased 21 percent to 24.3 sen/RPK compared to 20 sen/RPK.

RASK grew 17 percent to 16.8 sen/ask from 14.4 sen/ASK despite a 2.1 percentage point reduction in seat factor.

Cargo revenue increased 8.0 per cent to RM2.471 billion from RM2.296 billion.

Yield was up seven percent to 95.1 sen/LTKM from 89.1 sen/LTKM while load factor registered a 2 pct growth to 63.3 per cent from 61.3 per cent.

Under the two key projects -- route profitability and revenue enhancement -- implemented to improve the revenue and yield for the passenger business, Malaysia Airlines improved its year-on-year yield.

RASK grew by 17 per cent, which clearly showed that despite a slight reduction in load factor, the yield improvement had more than compensated for the reduction. As a result, revenue increased by some RM807 million.

MASKargo's yields was also up by 7.0 per cent to 95.1 sen/per LTKM (FY06) from 89.1 sen/LTKM (FY05), resulting in the cargo business achieving a record profit of RM150 million.

Based on a comprehensive network review, various measures were implemented in 2006 to transform the network. They include improving the profitability of many of the routes, closing unprofitable routes considered as unsalvageable, and pursuing a hub-and-spoke strategy.

To date, Malaysia Airlines had signed 26 code sharing agreements and interlining partnerships in pursuit of its hub-and-spoke strategy.

The national carrier also reduced its manpower by 15 percent or by over 3,000 employees through a mutual separation scheme, retirement and expiry of contracts to enhance productivity. For the financial year of 2006, MAS secured a total cost savings of RM310 million due to various cost cutting measures, including reducing advertising and corporate sponsorship as well as adjustments to commission and sales incentives.

Despite a 16 percent increase in the price of jet fuel, costs only grew 2.8 percent (excluding additional cost) due to the inclusion of the domestic business.

-- BERNAMA

[Airspeed]

Malaysia Airlines migliora i conti nel 2006
Perdite ridotte a 29 mln di euro

Dalla stampa francese si apprende che, nel 2006, Malaysia Airlines ha ridotto le perdite a 29 milioni di euro, contro i 248 milioni dell'anno precedente. Il giro d'affari è aumentato del 10,9%, a 2,87 miliardi di euro.
Nel quarto trimestre 2006 l'utile netto della compagnia è stato di 26,4 milioni di euro.(fonte: guidaviaggi.it)