Kenya Airways has posted an increase in pre-tax profit of 66.7% for the six months to September. The African flag carrier credited the positive results to an increase in the number of passengers and a weaker shilling against the dollar.
"We have been concentrating a lot on people and systems in the past six months, which has at least paid off," Titus Naikuni, CEO Kenya Airways said during the release of the results.
Revenue rose to Sh41.21 billion ($511.9 million) during the six-month period from Sh33.5 billion a year-ago, resulting in a pre-tax profit of Sh2.05 billion.
"The airline achieved Sh1.436 billion profit after tax compared to previous year’s profit after tax of Sh0.860 billion, marking an increase of 67 per cent over the previous year. Net profit margin improved to 3.5 per cent compared to previous margin of 2.6 per cent," Naikuni said.
Passenger traffic was driven by the World Cup in South Africa, with traffic in that region up 19.8%.
Naikuni also stated that the delay in 787 deliveries is limiting the airline’s growth and that the airline was considering purchasing A330 aircraft.