The carrier’s net profit for its fiscal fourth quarter was S$41.9 million (US$28.7 million), down from S$528 million a year earlier, it said in a statement. That took the net profit for the whole year to S$1.06 billion, down 48 per cent from the previous year.
The company’s cargo division, SIA Cargo, booked a loss of S$245 million, reflecting the depressed global air cargo market. SIA Cargo made a profit of S$132 million in the previous year.
In 2008, it carried 7.3 billion tonnekms compared with 8 billion tonne-kms the previous year, while load factors also declined from 62.2 per cent to 59.4 per cent.
Group revenue for the quarter fell 19 per cent to S$3.3 billion for the quarter while expenditures dropped 8 per cent to S$3.3 billion. A collapse in oil prices reduced spending on fuel by S$666 million, but losses from hedging soared to S$543 million.
“Advance bookings indicate that the drop in demand for air travel is leveling out,†the company said. “However, the probability of a sustained recovery has been set back by uncertainties arising from the Infl uenza A epidemic.â€Â
The group continues to cut capacity in a bid to match falling demand and from April 2009 to March 2010, the company plans to reduce capacity by a further 11 per cent, including the retirement of 16 passenger aircraft from its fleet.
But SIA also said it would stick to this year’s plan to take delivery of five Airbus A380-800 superjumbos and seven A330-300s despite the slowdown.
The carrier also said it would not revive talks on taking a strategic investment in China Eastern Airlines. In 2007, SIA and Singapore’s stateowned investment company Temasek Holdings agreed to take a combined 24 per cent stake in China Eastern, but the deal was scuttled by China Eastern’s minority shareholders.
