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Singapore Airlines’ Q4 net profit plunges 92pc

AFP, Singapore
Singapore Airlines (SIA) said Thursday fourth quarter net profit dived 92 percent on year to 41.9 million Singapore dollars (28.5 million US) as the global slump hit passenger and cargo demand.
Net profit tumbled by 486 million dollars, SIA said in a statement, as revenue fell 19.1 percent to 3.32 billion dollars.
"The results reflect the severe deterioration in operating conditions in the fourth quarter," the carrier said in a statement.
It said "the decline in passenger and cargo carriage accelerated in the fourth quarter."
The profit was in line with a Dow Jones poll of analysts who had forecast SIA to earn 40 million dollars during the quarter.
SIA said it also lost 543 million dollars from hedging on fuel contracts when jet fuel prices were higher. Fuel costs were the airline's biggest expense.
The global airline industry has been hammered by the global economic downturn, which has crimped business and leisure travel. Dwindling trade flow also affected cargo revenues.
The International Air Transport Association has said that global airlines will lose 4.7 billion US dollars this year as a result of the economic crisis alone.
While advance bookings indicate the drop in demand was stabilising, recovery could be set back by uncertainties due to the recent outbreak of swine flu, SIA said.
"In the near term, promotional pricing and reduced business travel will keep revenue under pressure," it said in a statement.
"On the other hand, with (the) price of jet fuel currently at less than half what it was during last year's peak... there will be relief for expenditure."
For the full year, net profit declined 48.20 percent to 1.06 billion dollars. Fullyear revenue came in at nearly 16 billion
dollars, up slightly from 15.972 billion dollars the year before.
SIA suffered its first ever net loss in the three months to June 2003 after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) health outbreak grounded travel in East Asia. The net loss came in at 312 million dollars at that time.
Shukor Yusof, an aviation analyst with Standard and Poor's, said he was surprised by the extent of the profit plunge and said SIA may have to review its orders for the double -decker Airbus A380 and cut staff.
"It reinforces the severity of the situation," he told AFP.
"I would imagine that they would have to re-examine whether they will have to further cut capacity and also whether the need would arise to lay people off."
Despite the drastic fall in net profit, however, SIA fared better than other regional airlines.
Japan Airlines, Asia’s largest carrier, this month reported a net loss of 63.2 billion yen (664.30 million US) for the 12 months through March, against a profit of 16.9 billion yen the previous year.
It also predicted a net loss of 63 billion yen for the current year to March.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific last month announced a 22 percent drop in first-quarter revenue, just weeks after it said it had lost more than a billion US dollars in 2008, the company's first full-year loss in a decade.
Australia's Qantas last month announced more job cuts, more than halved its profit forecast and deferred new plane orders, saying it had no choice if it hoped to weather the global downturn.
SIA carrier has implemented several cost-cutting measures to deal with the crisis, including shorter work months and grounding some of its planes.
SIA shares slid 52 cents to 11.60 on Friday before the announcement was made.