All Nippon Airways' Profit Soars 54.6 Percent

All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA) said on Thursday that its group net profit surged 54.6 percent in the first nine months of fiscal 2012, which started on April 1, 2012, from a year earlier to $573.63 million, despite a slump in cargo operations.

The Japanese carrier’s group revenue from overall operations grew 5.8 percent in the April-December period from a year earlier to $12.44 billion. Its group operating profit jumped 18.0 percent to $1.18 billion.

ANA attributed the stellar business performance to a recovery in passenger demand, which had been dealt a serious blow in 2011 by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern part of Japan, and strenuous cost-cutting efforts.

But ANA’s group revenue from international cargo operations fell 4.5 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year from a year earlier to $703.30 million. Its group revenue from domestic cargo operations also dropped 2.2 percent to $273.63 million.

ANA did not give specific profit figures for its cargo operations.

“In the international cargo services, overall demand for cargo from and to Japan continued to decrease mainly due to prolonged concern about the European economy, the slowing of growth in the Chinese economy, and the appreciation of the yen,” ANA said in an earnings release.

Earlier this month, the Japanese carrier grounded its entire feet of 17 Boeing 787 Dreamliner passenger jets due to battery problems. ANA said it cancelled 459 domestic and international Dreamliner flights in January, resulting in an estimated $15.38 million in lost revenue.

But ANA said, “It remains unclear when the aircraft will resume normal service” and left unchanged its group revenue and profit forecasts for the whole of fiscal 2012.

The airline’s current full-year projections are as follows: $16.15 billion in group operating revenue, up 4.1 percent from fiscal 2011; $1.21 billion in group operating profit, up 13.3 percent from fiscal 2011; $439.56 million in group net profit, up 42.0 percent from fiscal 2011.