Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Local Media Coverage On MAS Earnings Announcement

Since I had posted on how the local media had glorified IOI's earnings by stating its net earnings jumped a whopping 15x in the posting WOW! Did IOI Net Profit Increased 15-Fold?, it's only fair I should write a bit on MAS earnings announcement coverage.

On the Edge Financial Daily:
MAS posts RM310m net profit in 1Q


  • KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) posted a net profit of RM310.05 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 from a net loss of RM698.55 million a year earlier.

    It said on Monday, May 17 revenue was higher at RM3.30 billion from RM2.72 billion previously while earnings per share was 10.64 sen from loss per share of 34.02 sen.

    Its operating profit was RM289.5 million, a contrast from an operating loss of RM141.1 million a year ago, due to an increase in other operating income as a result of A380 compensation as well as improvement in passenger and cargo traffic demand.

    It saw derivative gain from fuel hedging contracts rise to RM56.7 million from a derivative loss of RM557 million a year ago.

Ok.. it has a derivative gain of rm56.7 million...

On AFP..

  • May 17, 2010, 7.27 pm

    Malaysia Airlines swings to Q1 profit

    KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia Airlines said on Monday it had made a profit in the first quarter due to compensation received from Airbus and an increase in traffic, but remained cautious on the outlook for the year.

    The national carrier said net profits stood at RM310 million (US$96 million) in the three months to the end of March compared with a net loss of RM699 million in the same period last year.

    Revenue increased by 21 per cent to RM3.3 billion from RM2.7 million a year earlier as global travel was boosted by the economic recovery.

    Traffic increased by 29 per cent in the first quarter.

    Managing director and chief executive Azmil Zahruddin said it had been an 'encouraging' quarter.

    'Both passenger and cargo business showed strong growth, boosted by the economic recovery, and our swift response in capitalising on the increase in demand,' he told a news conference.

    Mr Azmil said profits were boosted by a RM329 million payment by Airbus that was partial compensation for a delay delivering the airline's first A380 superjumbo - originally due in 2007.

    Otherwise, the company would have suffered a loss, he said.

    The airline is now due to receive the first of six of the double-decker planes in late 2011 and expects further compensation from the European aircraft maker.

    Growth also suffered from a rise in the price of jet fuel by 55 per cent to US$85 a barrel. This led to an overall hike in the company's fuel costs of 42 per cent to RM1.01 billion.

    'It is still a challenging year for 2010,' said Mr Azmil. He added however: 'We believe we are very well positioned. We have seen strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region - we want to capitalise on that.'

    He said disruption of air traffic caused by a volcano in Iceland last month had cost Malaysia Airlines RM15 million. This was due to loss of sales, idling of aircraft and extra flights mounted to send home stranded passengers.

    Malaysia Airlines returned to the black in the fourth quarter of 2009, with net profits of RM610 million due to lower operation and fuel costs, as well as a rebound in cargo business. -- AFP

WOW! MAS made some tidy profit of rm 329 million from partial compensation from Airbus for late delivery. ( Life is good. :P)

On Bernama: MAS Returns To Black With Q1 Pre-Tax Profit Of RM320.25 Million

  • PETALING JAYA, May 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) returned to the black with a pre-tax profit of RM320.25 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2010, from a loss of RM709.5 million in the same period last year.

    Revenue rose to RM3.301 billion from RM2.722 billion previously, the national carrier said Monday.

    MAS also said that it will take delivery of the B737-800, the largest plane in the world, in the fourth quarter of this year after several delays earlier.

    The airline posted a net profit of RM310 million, a swing of more than RM1 billion from the RM699 million net loss previously.

    MAS managing director and chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin told a press conference that both passenger and cargo business showed strong growth in the first quarter, boosted by the economic recovery and its swift response in capitalising on the increase in demand.

    Its operating profit was at RM290 million, which included compensation for the delayed delivery of the A380 super jumbo aircraft, while operating profit was up RM431 million compared to the first quarter last year. The first quarter also saw a continuous strong growth in the cargo business as MASkargo's business traffic saw an upswing of 31 per cent.

    Cargo revenue rose 53 per cent to RM456 million from RM298 million previously.

    Tengku Azmil said MAS' focus for the year would be strengthen its balance sheet and yields, and enhance brand loyalty.

    "As part of its extensive fleet renewal programme, MAS will also take delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 aircraft in the fourth quarter this year," he said.

    "For 2010, the operating profit target is RM100 million to RM325 million," he added.

Hmm.. Bernama version does not explain how much was the compensation (rm 329 million) and neither does it talk about the derivative gain of rm56.7 million. And it omitted the statement from Tenku Azmil saying that "Otherwise, the company would have suffered a loss"

On Business Times.

  • Malaysia Airlines flies back into the black

    By Zaidi Isham Ismail Published: 2010/05/18

    Malaysia Airlines (MAS) (3786)has returned to profitability with a net profit of RM310 million in the first quarter ended March 31 2010, helped mainly by a RM320 million compensation from Airbus
    .

    The national carrier made a net loss of almost RM700 million in the same quarter a year ago.

    Airbus, the European aircraft maker, was to have delivered six A380s, the world's largest passenger plane, to MAS in 2007, which has been delayed until next year.

    MAS' first quarter revenue rose 21 per cent to RM3.3 billion from RM2.7 billion a year ago as economic recovery boosted global travel.

    Managing director Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin said the year ahead would be challenging because of Iceland's volcanic ash clouds disrupting air traffic in Europe again, forcing some airports to close their airspace.
    "During the first ash cloud disruption, MAS made RM15 million losses, such as paying for aircraft holding cost at airports, hotels, loss of sales and clearing the backlog of passengers.

    "But I am optimistic that MAS will see continuous growth in the year ahead based on our encouraging first quarter during which both passenger and cargo business showed strong traffic loads of 75 per cent," Tengku Azmil told reporters at MAS' headquarters and training academy in Selangor yesterday.

    The stronger ringgit will also help the airline save on costs of fuel, spare parts and aircraft purchase, which are all transacted in US dollars.

    The first quarter also saw continued growth in its cargo business. MASkargo traffic saw an upswing of 31 per cent, lifting revenue 53 per cent to RM458 million from RM298 million.

    Tengku Azmil's optimism also stemmed from MAS' completed rights issue, which raised close to RM3.2 billion and boosted shareholders' equity to RM3.7 billion.

On Star Business: MAS Q1 net profit of RM310m due to delay in A380 delivery

  • Tuesday May 18, 2010
    MAS Q1 net profit of RM310m due to delay in A380 delivery
    By LEONG HUNG YEE

    Compensation boost for MAS

    PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) posted a net profit of RM310mil, or 10.64 sen per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, thanks to the significant compensation of RM329mil from Airbus SAS for the delay of A380 delivery.

    The national carrier had ordered six A380s, delivery of which had been delayed for the third time.

    Airbus was initially scheduled to start delivering the A380s in January 2007 but it was postponed to January 2011 following delays in the aircraft maker's programme. This was again deferred to August 2011.

    “The compensation is from previous delays and there will be further compensation as per the contractual agreement,” managing director/chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin said at a briefing to announce its results yesterday.

    However, he did not reveal any figures for its further compensation.

    For the quarter under review, the carrier's pre-tax profit increased to RM320.2mil from a pre-tax loss of RM709.5mil on a 21% rise in turnover to RM3.3bil. MAS posted an operating profit of RM289.5mil for the quarter against an operating loss of RM141mil a year ago.

    To a question, Tengku Azmil said the group would be in a “slight red,”
    or a net loss of about RM39mil if not for the compensation from Airbus.

    However, he said, due to the higher fuel prices, MAS' fuel expenditure increased by 42%, or about RM300mil, to RM1.01bil against RM713mil last year.

    “Although our non-fuel expenditure has decreased 7%, it does not compensate for the steep increase in fuel cost,” he said, adding that fuel price volatility would be one of the industry's main challenges this year.

    MAS hedged 60% and 40% of its fuel requirement for 2010 and 2011 respectively at US$100 per barrel.

    The flag carrier made a derivative gain of RM56.7mil from fuel hedging for the quarter against a loss of RM557mil a year ago.

    During the quarter, MAS' traffic increased by 29% while its load factor stood at 74.8%. Its revenue per available seat km increased by 5% to 17.4 sen.

    Its results were also boosted by the strong performance from its cargo operations. “MASKargo has also been swift to respond to the increase in cargo demand which rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2009. The increase in traffic and revenue led to a 16% increase in yield to 79.5 sen,” Tengku Azmil said, adding that the overall load for cargo operations increased by 13.6 percentage points to 77.6%.

    “It has been an encouraging quarter. Both passenger and cargo business showed strong growth, boosted by the economic recovery, and our swift response in capitalising on the increase in demand.”

    He said the first and second quarters were typically its weakest but MAS managed to maintain its performance.

    To a question, Tengku Azmil said MAS was evaluating the best way to optimise its B737-400 planes, including allowing Firefly to use its fleet as it embarked on its fleet renewal programme.

    “We have not made any decision. It's always possible,” he said.

    “The outlook for the second quarter remains challenging. Oil prices continue to be volatile given the uncertainty in demand and supply and volatility of the US dollar,” MAS said in the notes accompanying its results.

    “MAS' focus for 2010 is to strengthen its balance sheet and yields and enhance brand loyalty. As part of its extensive fleet renewal programme, MAS will also take delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 aircraft in the fourth quarter this year.

    “For 2010, the operating profit target of the group is RM100mil to RM325mil, while the on-time performance target for the company is 84.7% to 87%,” MAS said.

    Analysts contacted generally were rather disappointed with MAS' latest quarterly results.

    An analyst said its profit all came from the RM329mil compensation from Airbus. He said it was below his expectation but airline earnings were erratic.

    Consensus estimates on Bloomberg expect MAS to post a net loss of RM50.3mil for the whole year while Thomson Reuters' average forecast expects a full-year net loss of more than RM30mil.

Well.. hat's off to Star Business on MAS earnings coverage. It was rather precise and most of the info is there for the investing public to read. The Edge Financial Daily usually does another update with a more detailed report later, so I would give them a benefit of a doubt. ( update 2 pm: Here is Edge Financial daily detailed artical: MAS stays cautious despite being profitable in 1Q )

AND THIS IS WHERE I NEED TO GIVE CREDIT. :D

The reporting on MAS earnings is certainly much better when compared to say Aug 2009.

Yes, do refer to this posting Fair Reporting On MAS?

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