Fuel costs, Dreamliner cause Japan’s ANA to swing into US$67 million quarterly loss

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TOKYO: All Nippon Airways (ANA) said yesterday that it had swung into a loss for the April-June quarter as fuel costs soared and problems with Boeing’s Dreamliner also weighed on results.

The Japanese carrier lost 6.6 billion yen (US$67 million), reversing a small year-earlier profit, while revenue climbed 4.4 per cent to 358.3 billion yen.

ANA cited a spike in fuel costs as a sharply weaker yen sent its operating expenses soaring.

“The primary reason for the increase in operating expenses was a rise in fuel costs due to the weakening of the yen,” it said in a statement.

“Operating revenues were also held back by the suspension of Boeing 787 services for part of the period.”

But the carrier kept its full-year profit forecast unchanged at 45 billion yen.

ANA and domestic rival Japan Airlines, which will report its quarterly results on Wednesday, were sideswiped by the four-month grounding of Boeing’s new aircraft earlier this year.

The carriers operated about half the Dreamliners in service and had to cancel hundreds of flights in the wake of the crisis which saw the fuel-efficient plane probed by regulators over battery problems.

Although rising competition in the domestic market saw revenue decline 1.3 per cent in the latest quarter, the carrier’s international business booked a 7.5 per cent rise in sales on the back of steady demand for flights to Europe and North America, it said.

ANA added that its China business was still suffering after a territorial row over an island chain claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing sparked a consumer boycott in China of Japanese brands. — Reuters