ANA Holdings recorded $897.6 million operating profit for the 12 months ended March 31. The airline had reported a 173.1-billion-yen operating loss in the previous year. This is the airline’s first annual profit in the last three years. The airline has attributed the strong comeback to recovering travel demand in domestic as well as international market post-pandemic.
The company said its operating profit was expected to improve further this year.
The full-year results came after the company revised its guidance on Friday, lifting its profit estimate by around 26% to 120 billion yen, citing lower fuel prices and a stronger yen.
For the latest quarter, ANA’s operating profit was ¥21 billion versus a loss of ¥57 billion a year earlier.
Travel demand from North America, Oceania and most of Asia has improved since Japan started easing COVID-related restrictions in September, but the recovery from Europe and China still lags, Chief Executive Officer Koji Shibata said at a briefing in Tokyo.
“Demand from Chinese tourists in the summer will have further effect on our earnings,” Shibata added. ANA has announced plans to increase weekly flights between Japan and China by around 50% by June 2023.
Visitors to Japan surged to 1.82 million in March 2023, the highest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national tourism agency reported earlier this month.
ANA’s return to profit after suffering an operating loss of 638 billion yen in the previous two years combined was also helped by cost-cutting and government support, Shibata said.
The Group’s annual revenue climbed 67.3% to 1.7 trillion yen and is forecast to increase by 15.4% this fiscal year.
Japan is looking to bring forward the end of COVID-related border control measures requiring a vaccination certificate or negative test from May 9 in hopes of easing congestion at airports before the start of a week-long holiday.