Cathay Pacific Airways reported a 27.9 percent year-over-year profit decline to HK$1.691 billion on a 3.7 percent decline in revenue on Wednesday. For 2019, earnings per share was down 27.9 percent to HK$0.43 versus FY 2018.
Today, Cathay Pacific Airways reported a 2019 profit of HK$1.691 billion on revenue of HK$106.973 billion. The carrier’s profit declined 27.9% on a revenue decline of 3.7% versus 2018. Earnings per share (EPS) were down 27.9% to HK$0.43 and the company's dividend per share declined 40% to HK$0.18. The carrier’s net borrowings increased 40.7% to 82.396 billion and the net debt to equity ratio increased from 0.92 to 1.31 times, year-over-year. For 2019, the passenger load factor decreased 1.8 percent to 82.3%. Passenger revenue per available seat kilometer (PRASK) declined 6.2% to 44.2 HK cents versus 2018. Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon’s on-time performance improved 3.6% to 76.3%. In the company’s “Chairman’s Statement,” Cathay Pacific Group’s Chairman, Patrick Healy said in part,
“2019 was a turbulent year for the Cathay Pacific Group. With our three-year transformation programme starting to bear fruit we delivered a positive performance in the first half of 2019 notwithstanding a difficult environment brought about by geopolitical and trade tensions. However, with social unrest in Hong Kong intensifying over the second half of the year and mounting US-China trade tensions, we experienced a sharp drop in both inbound and outbound passenger traffic. We were faced with an incredibly challenging environment to operate as the Hong Kong economy slipped into recession. As a result, our second-half results – traditionally stronger compared to first-half results – fell well below what we would have hoped for.”
Mr. Healy further explained that last December, in order to improve the competitiveness of Hong Kong International Airport as a global cargo hub, the Airport Authority of Hong Kong announced a reduction in Terminal Charge fees between 18 and more than 20 percent from April 1, 2020. Non-fuel costs per available ton kilometer (ATK) for the year decreased 2.7% and while the company benefited from average lower fuel prices, the carrier was adversely impacted by a strong US dollar.
The Cathay Pacific Group completed their acquisition of low-cost carrier HK Express in July 2019 and in November the carrier announced they would begin taking delivery of 16 of 32 Airbus A321neos from 2022, as part of their fleet optimization across the Group’s passenger airlines. In May 2019, Cathay Pacific introduced a new customer-focused brand direction with the tagline ‘Move Beyond,’ expressing the airline's continuous drive to exceed guest expectations. Cathay Pacific’s plan to take delivery of 70 new fuel-efficient aircraft by 2024 remains in place, despite recent and ongoing regional and international downward pressures on demand.
Source: Cathay Pacific Airways