Air New Zealand saw its operating profit fall 34.9% to NZ$524 million($379 million) for its 2017 fiscal year ended 30 June, on the back of increased competition.
Revenue fell 2.3% to NZ$5.1 billion with revenue from carrying passengers, cargo, and contract services all slipping, says the Star Alliance carrier in an earnings statement.
RASK slipped NZ$0.09 to NZ$0.104, compared with NZ$0.113 a year earlier. CASK also fell, but by a narrower margin, dropping NZ$0.02 to NZ$0.091.
ASKs rose 6.2% during the year, while RPKs rose only 4.8%. Air New Zealand's load factor was flat at 82.6%.
Net profit fell 17.5% to NZ$382 million.
“This year Air New Zealand faced an unprecedented increase in the level of competition from some of the world’s largest airlines and effectively rose to the challenge," says chief executive Christopher Luxon.
"The impressive way our team responded to the new competition while at the same time achieving commercial, customer and cultural excellence, helped to deliver our second highest profit ever.”
Cash and cash equivalents fell NZ$225 million from the beginning of the year, and stood at NZ$1.4 billion on 30 June.
"Looking forward to the year ahead, the airline is optimistic about the overall market dynamics," says the carrier. "Based upon current market conditions and assuming an average jet fuel price of US$60 per barrel (which represents the average over the past two months), the airline is aiming to improve upon 2017 earnings."
Source: Cirium Dashboard
