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Air Astana's revenue rises 20.6 per cent as quarterly profit falls
Unit costs again rose faster than unit revenues, leaving the airline group with a nine-month loss after tax of US$2.7 million.
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Air Astana's revenue and other income rose 20.6 per cent to US$529.1 million in the third quarter, but profit after tax fell 10.3 per cent to US$18.5 million, the Kazakh airline group said in its results release on 12 November.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rent (EBITDAR) rose 0.4 per cent to US$105.6 million, and the EBITDAR margin fell 4.0 percentage points to 20.0 per cent. Revenue per available seat kilometre rose 16.0 per cent to 7.48 US cents while cost per available seat kilometre rose 20.0 per cent to 6.95 US cents. The gap between the two narrowed to 0.53 US cents from 0.66 US cents a year earlier.
Capacity grew 4.0 per cent and traffic 2.0 per cent, and the group carried 3.05 million passengers, 0.9 per cent more. The load factor fell to 83.4 per cent from 85.0 per cent. The company said capacity to China nearly doubled and capacity to India rose 23 per cent, and that it had five fewer aircraft grounded than a year earlier by the Pratt and Whitney engine problems.
For nine months, revenue rose 17.9 per cent to US$1,293.0 million and EBITDAR fell 5.7 per cent to US$247.3 million, for a margin of 19.1 per cent. The group posted a loss after tax of US$2.7 million, against a profit of US$31.2 million a year earlier. On those figures the first half implies a loss of about US$21.2 million, which the third quarter did not offset.
Debt ratios rose. Net debt to EBITDAR was 1.89 times at the end of September against about 1.3 times a year earlier, which the company put down to higher lease liabilities and lower EBITDAR. Cash and bank balances fell 5.2 per cent to US$511.5 million, or 31.0 per cent of sales against 38.3 per cent. Both measures stay inside the group's medium-term limits of liquidity above 25 per cent and net debt below 3.0 times EBITDAR, and it kept its targets of 86 aircraft by the end of 2030 and an EBITDAR margin in the mid to high 20s. The summary table shows 63 aircraft at the end of September, and the company said later deliveries brought the fleet to 65.
The shares trade on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, which carried the results on 12 November, the date the company had announced in a notice of 29 October. Air Astana's shareholders approved an amended governance code in September, as Boards and Capital reported. Kaspi.kz, also listed in Almaty, reported third-quarter net income up 1 per cent.