JOC Staff | Oct 31, 2012 9:41AM EDT
All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA) said on Wednesday that its group net profit surged 61.6 percent in the first half of fiscal 2012, which started on April 1, from a year earlier to $461.25 million.
The Japanese carrier’s group revenue from overall operations grew 6.9 percent between April and September from the same six-month period last year to $9.42 billion. Its group operating profit jumped 50.2 percent to $941.25 million, a fiscal first-half record.
ANA attributed the stellar business performance, largely to a recovery in passenger demand, which had been dealt a serious blow last year by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern part of Japan.
ANA’s group revenue from international cargo operations plunged 8.3 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year from a year earlier to $517.50 million. Its group revenue from domestic cargo operations also fell 3.8 percent to $197.50 million.
ANA did not give specific profit figures for its cargo operations.
As a major reason for the big drop in international cargo revenue, ANA cited, in an earnings release, weaker cargo demand between Japan and China and on other routes “due to the impact of the ongoing European financial crisis and slowing of growth in the Chinese economy.”
On Wednesday, ANA also revised downward its group operating revenue forecast for the whole of fiscal 2012, which was announced on April 27. The carrier now expects $17.50 billion in full-year group operating revenue, compared with the previously estimated $18.75 billion.
However, ANA left unchanged its full-year group operating and net profit forecasts at $1.38 billion and $500.00 million, respectively.