Air Canada earned C$134 million, or 42 Canadian cents a share, in its last quarter of 2010. The airline credits foreign-exchange gains for the gain that is up from a year-earlier loss of C$56 million, or 25 Canadian cents. On an adjusted basis, it lost 6 Canadian cents a share, a penny more than analysts expected.
Operating income was up to C$131 million from a loss of C$83 million. EBITDAR, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and aircraft rent, more than doubled to C$380 million. Before a provision adjustment for cargo investigations, operating income was C$85 million and EBITDAR was C$334 million.
Revenue was also up to C$2.62 billion from C$2.35 billion a year earlier but below the C$2.58 billion analysts were expecting.
Costs per available seat mile fell 3.4% in the latest quarter but excluding fuel expense it was down 4.1%. The airline's fourth-quarter traffic rose 8%, while capacity was up 7.8% with load factor improving slightly to 78.8% from 78.6%.