DALLAS — In its most recent financial update, Singapore Airlines (SIA) reported record earnings due to increased demand for air travel and the reopening of international borders.
The airline firm reported a net profit of US$628m for the third quarter of its fiscal year that ends on March 30, 2023, bringing its nine-month net profit for the period from April to December 2022 to a record US$1.56bn.
The results represented a turnaround from the US$752m deficit in the four-month period from April to September 2021 and an increase of 12.7% over the third-quarter profit of US$557m in the prior year.
This followed a third-quarter sales increase of 8% year over year to US$4.85bn, resulting in top-line growth of 158% to US$13.26bn for the nine months.
The company’s financial position remained solid.
Singapore Airlines in 2022
The group’s shareholder equity as of December 31, 2022, which has decreased by US$3bn due to the redemption of its June 2020 mandatory convertible bonds, was $19.4bn. Mostly as a result of sale and leaseback activity, total debt increased by US$4bn to US$16.1bn. The debt-to-equity ratio of the group increased from 0.7 times to 0.83 times.
The balances in cash and banks increased from US$1.6bn to US$15.4bn. Additionally, the firm still had access to committed lines of credit worth US$2.2bn that had not yet been used. All of this was a result of strong demand and record passenger load factors for all routes and cabin classes.
Before the pandemic, SIA’s route network, which includes that of its low-cost carrier Scoot, consisted of 137 destinations across 37 countries and territories. As of December 31, that network consisted of 111 destinations across 36 countries and territories, including Singapore.
In the third quarter, the number of passengers carried by the two carriers increased by 17% to 7.4 million. The group carried 18.8 million passengers for the nine months that ended in December 2022, a ninefold increase from the previous year.
Services in China & Indonesia
The SIA Group restored service to China and Indonesian destinations during the third quarter of October to December and increased frequency to Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, and Japanese destinations. Going ahead, SIA stated that the fourth quarter’s (January to March 2023) passenger sales trend is still robust.
The airline reported a record load factor of 85.9% for January after reporting load rates well over 80% during the third quarter.
In the third quarter, the number of passengers carried by the two carriers increased by 17% to 7.4 million. The group carried 18.8 million passengers for the nine months that ended in December 2022, a nine-fold increase from the previous year.
The SIA Group restored service to China and Indonesian destinations during the third quarter of October to December and increased frequency to Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, and Japanese destinations.
Going ahead, SIA stated that the fourth quarter’s (January to March 2023) passenger sales trend is still robust. The airline reported a record load factor of 85.9% for January after reporting load rates well over 80% during the third quarter.
Featured image: Singapore airlines A350-900 9V-SMU at Manchester Airport (MAN) 25 October 2022. Photo: Daniel Crawford/airways
