Scandinavian Airline System (SAS) has reported a smaller-than-expected fall in quarterly earnings, boosted by cost cuts, and has reiterated it has the potential to post a full-year pretax profit.
SAS said fiscal third quarter pretax earnings fell to SEK756 million (US$106 million) from SEK1.18 billion in the same period last year.
SAS Chief Executive Rickard Gustafson said: "This result reflects a market under continued intense price pressure. However, the high passenger growth shows that our strategy is generating effects," adding that the number of passengers had increased by more than 700,000 compared with the same quarter last year.
SAS has been struggling for years with overcapacity and competition from budget carriers such as Ryanair and Norwegian.
SAS repeated there was potential to post positive earnings before tax for the FY2013/2014, including a positive effect from changed pension reporting and excluding restructuring costs.
After broad restructuring, SAS posted its first annual pretax profit since 2007 in the 2012/13 fiscal year. SAS's fiscal year runs from November to October.