Hisane Masaki, Special Correspondent | Apr 27, 2012 9:17AM EDT
All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA), Japan’s largest airline, said on Friday that its group net profit soared 20.9 percent in fiscal 2011, which ended on March 31, from the previous fiscal year to $346.91 million.
The ANA group’s revenue from its overall operations rose 4.0 percent in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010 to $17.43 billion. ANA posted a group operating profit of $1.20 billion in the last fiscal year, up 43.1 percent from a year earlier and the biggest amount on record.
ANA said in an earnings release that its strong business performance in fiscal 2011 was due to measures it took “to stimulate demand and cut costs in the face of a challenging economic environment.”
“Against the backdrop of a gradual recovery in the domestic economy following the Great East Japan Earthquake, rising oil prices, exchange rate fluctuations and the government debt crisis in the eurozone, ANA took decisive action in the fiscal year just ended to stimulate demand and improve efficiency,” the carrier said.
ANA’s group revenue from its international cargo operations rose 2.2 percent in fiscal 2011 from a year earlier to $1.09 billion. ANA’s group revenue from its domestic cargo operations also increased 2.6 percent to $409.88 million.
ANA did not give specific profit figures for its cargo operations.
ANA said, “International cargo volumes were affected by the impact of the earthquake on supply chains for automotive and electronics parts, and there was concern that there would be an overall decline in demand. However, it recovered to levels exceeding initial forecasts.”
“Nevertheless, with the yen hitting a record high beginning in the summer, factory production began to shift overseas, creating difficult market conditions for air cargo out of Japan in particular. But ANA was able to actively promote trilateral cargo, and the bulk shipment of new mobile devices from China in the latter half of February led to an increase in cargo demand, with the result that cargo volume exceeded the previous year’s results,” ANA said.
“Cargo volumes on domestic routes exceeded those of last year as the demand to carry goods on air routes instead of via land increased after the earthquake, especially on Hokkaido routes. Capacity also increased with the introduction of the Boeing 787 aircraft in November,” ANA said.
ANA also announced its group revenue and profit forecasts for fiscal 2012: $18.52 billion in operating revenue, up 6.3 percent from fiscal 2011; $1.36 billion in operating profit, up 13.3 percent from fiscal 2011; $493.83 million in net profit, up 42.0 percent from fiscal 2011.
Contact Hisane Masaki at yiu45535@nifty.com.
