Japan Airlines reported stronger than expected earnings for its third quarter fiscal year 2024 results, with EBIT up 55.2% to a record 58.5bn Japanese yen ($385.8 million), compared to the same period a year prior. In addition, EBIT was up 11.9% in the first three quarters of the fiscal year (April through December 2024) to 144.2bn yen ($951.2 million). EBIT margin was up 3.3 percentage points to 12.1% for the quarter.
“EBIT exceeded our plan through capturing international passenger demand, stimulus measures for domestic passenger demand and advancing the business model reform,” read the airline in its report.
Revenues also beat expectations in the quarter, up 13% to a record 484.1bn yen ($3.2bn).
The group’s full service carrier reported revenues of 381.7bn yen ($2.5bn), up 11% on a year prior. Japan Airlines’ international passenger revenues were up 13.2% 178.1bn yen ($1.2bn), while domestic revenue was up 4.1% to 153.2bn yen ($1bn). In addition, the company’s low cost carrier airline revenue was up 20.8% to 20.1bn yen ($132.6 million).
Operating expenses for the quarter were up 9.3% to 429.4bn yen ($2.8bn), though up 13.7% excluding fuel. Fuel was down 4.3% to 92bn yen ($606.8 million) for the quarter.
The group reported a net profit of 41.1bn yen ($271.1 million) for the quarter, up 70.1%, while the first April through December quarters reported a net profit of 91bn yen ($600.4 million) – up 6% on the same period a year prior.
Capacity was up 4.2% and revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) were up 12.6% for the quarter.
The company’s cargo and mail revenues were up 29.6% to 45.4bn yen ($299.5 million) in the period. The strong cargo result was driven by improving unit price and increasing cargo volume for Europe and North America. However, domestic cargo, the company said, had slower growth but revenue still increased by capturing new demand.
For the quarter, the company reported a 1.8bn yen ($11.9 million) loss on foreign exchange, compared to a 5.9bn yen ($38.9 million) loss a year prior.
As of the year end, the company had 2.8bn yen ($18.5bn) in total assets and 696.3bn yen ($4.6bn) in cash and deposits. Shareholders equity was 948.3bn yen ($6.3bn).