The airline SAS's profit before tax and non-recurring items during the second quarter of the financial year was -320 million SEK, compared with expectations of -356 million according to Inquiry Financial.
This is evident from the quarterly report. Operating profit was -385 million SEK (-110). Analysts had expected an operating profit of -468 million SEK on average, according to Inquiry Financial's compilation ahead of the report.
SAS SAS -1.35% turnover amounted to SEK 9,916 million for the period (9,843). Here, Inquiry Financial's consensus forecast was SEK 9,963 million.
The company maintains its outlook for the full year 2017/2018 (November 2017 – October 2018).
The expectations are that profit before tax and non-recurring items will be in the range of SEK 1.5-2.0 billion for the full year.
”"We are now leaving the first half of the year behind us, which overall has been somewhat less negative than we expected. With today's significantly higher jet fuel prices combined with increased capacity, our jet fuel costs will rise during the second half of the year," writes CEO Rickard Gustafson in the report.
He points out that the weakening of the Swedish krona against the US dollar is also negatively affecting SAS.
”"Despite these negative market effects, we can, in light of the better earnings performance during the first half of the year and with the assumption of stable demand during the summer, keep the outlook for 2017/2018 unchanged," writes the CEO.
”"At the same time, the weaker Swedish krona in relation to the USD and the rising jet fuel prices are something that worries me. It is clear that these two factors could lead to increased challenges for SAS and the airline industry going forward," he adds.
Source: di.se
