(Update) Cathay profit dives, staff costs soar
(03-13 13:10)
Cathay Pacific, which flew 29 million passengers last year, said profit slumped 83.3 percent to HK$916 million last year, compared with income of HK$5.5 billion in 2011.
Earnings per share fell by 83.3 percent to 23.3 cents HK cents.
Turnover for the year increased by just 1 percent to HK$99.3 billion.
While profits dived, operating expenses including staff costs and inflight service expenses increased. Staff costs exceeded HK$16 billion, rising 8.8 percent from HK$14.7 billion in 2011. It was the second biggest cost, behind jet fuel expenses.
The carrier blamed “high price of jet fuel, pressure on passenger yields and weak air cargo demand.’’ Fuel accounted for more than 41 percent total operating costs, the company said.
The passenger load factor fell by 0.3 percentage points and the yield increased by 1.2 percent to 67.3 HK cents.
Passenger revenue for the year was HK$70.1 billion, up just 3.5 percent compared with 2011. Capacity increased by 2.6 percent.
Cargo revenue fell 5.5 percent to HK$24.55 billion, the carrier said.
Cathay declared an interim dividend of 0.08 HK cents per share for the year ended December 31, 2012 in lieu of a final dividend.
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