Japanese carriers announce slumping group net profits on rising fuel costs

Japan Airlines Co. (JAL) said Friday its nine-month group net profit in the April to December period fell 12.2 percent to 123.50 billion yen (1.2 billion U.S. dollars), citing a weaker yen as pushing up fuel costs. The carrier said its operating profit in the recording period stood at of 137.50 billion yen, down 13.1 percent compared to the same time a year earlier, on revenue of 989.92 billion yen, a 5.1 percent increase from a year earlier. JAL also announced Friday it has upwardly revised its group net profit forecast for the fiscal year to March, to 148 billion yen, from 128 billion yen, on increased demand for flights within Southeast Asia. The airliner, which has suffered from Boeing's grounding of its 787 Dreamliner planes due to battery problems, also raised its outlook for its consolidated operating profit to 158 billion yen on expected revenue of 1.29 trillion yen. Domestic rival ANA Holdings Inc., operator of All Nippon Airways Co., meanwhile, said Friday its April-December group net profit had fallen 36.2 percent to 33.31 billion yen (325 million U. S. dollars), on sales of 1.2 trillion yen, as the weak yen pushed up fuel charges. While the carrier's operating profits retreated, its consolidated sales were up in the recording period by 7.1 percent, ANA said, on robust travel figures, although the firm said passenger numbers for its international flights had dipped slightly and its operating expenses had spiked commensurate to fuel price increases. The carrier added that owing to healthy revenues from sales of business class tickets to Asian countries, sales in this area had increased by 12 percent compared to a year earlier. ANA, also hit by Boeing's battery glitches, left unchanged its group earnings forecast for the fiscal year through March at 15 billion yen, a 65.2 percent decrease from the previous year. It said its operating profit is expected to total 60 billion yen, sliding more than 40 percent on expected sales of 1.58 trillion yen.