ANA Holdings significantly improved its nine-month profits despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, as international travel demand continued to grow sharply.
For the nine months to 31 December, the parent of All Nippon Airways (ANA) more than doubled its operating profit to Y210 billion ($1.4 billion) – the group’s highest nine-month profit on record.
Group revenue for the period rose 22.6% year on year to Y1.54 trillion, with the sharpest increase seen in its airline business, which reported a 24% jump in revenue to Y1.4 trillion.
ANA Holdings attributes the rise to strong demand from inbound and leisure travellers, adding: “[Variable] costs [also] increased due to factors such as an expansion in the scale of the operations, however profit and loss improved greatly compared to the same period last year due to cost management initiatives.”
ANA carried 5.3 million international passengers during the nine-month period, an 88% increase year on year, with capacity up about 59%.
The mainline carrier also saw a 25% jump in domestic passenger volume to over 31 million, as a result of an uptick in leisure travel demand. Capacity was up 11%, outpaced by a 25% increase in traffic.
Low-cost unit Peach Aviation carried 7 million passengers during the period, a 25.5% year-on-year increase.
ANA Holdings posted a net profit of nearly Y149 billion, more than double the year-ago period.
The improvement in earnings has prompted the group to revise up its profit guidance for the 2023 fiscal year, which ends 31 March.
For the full-year, ANA Holdings forecasts an operating profit of Y190 billion, about 36% higher than earlier forecasts. It also revised its full-year revenue to Y2 trillion, up 3% from previous estimates. The change comes as ANA expects strong travel demand to continue through the January-March quarter.
ANA Holdings group chief financial officer Kimihiro Nakahori says: “ANA Group’s positive financial results point to an expansion in international operations, which have played a pivotal role in the airline’s overall profitability compared to the prior nine-month time period.
“This success underscores the impact of the extended global reach on ANA Group’s financial performance, commitment by all ANA Group team members, and continued cost management,” he adds.
