AirAsia X Posted Pre-Tax Profit of RM251.18 Mln for FY16

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- Airasia X Bhd posted a pre-tax profit of RM251.18 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY16) compared to a pre-tax loss of RM446.48 million in 2015. Its revenue jumped to RM4.01 billion from RM3.06 billion previously. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia Wednesday, the long-haul budget airline attributed the better performance to the increase in passengers carried, higher ancillary revenue, better aircraft operating lease income plus improved freight and cargo revenue. "In 2016, Airasia X carried 29.7 per cent more passengers of 4.69 million from 3.61 million in 2015, resulting in improvement of four per cent in load factor. "Meanwhile, ancillary revenue rose by 34.9 per cent to RM642.7 million in 2016 from RM476.4 million in 2015 while aircraft operating lease income grew 60.6 per cent to RM440.1 million from RM274 million," it said. It said freight and cargo revenue increased by 25.5 per cent to RM134.9 million from RM107.5 million in 2015 due to higher tonnage transported. For the fourth quarter in 2016, Airasia X's pre-tax profit fell to RM29.88 million from RM124.61 million in the same quarter of 2015, on the back of higher revenue of RM1.17 billion from RM841.14 million. "Based on the current forward booking trend, forward loads and average fares were trending better than the previous year. "However, the depreciation of the ringgit is a key concern as large portions of Airasia X's borrowings and operating costs are in US dollars," it said. -- BERNAMA