Publications
Partners
Johannesburg – State-owned carrier South African Airways (SAA) has reported a R581m profit for the year ended March, the second consecutive annual profit since last year's R402m.
The 45% profit increase came from a 15% decline in revenue to R22bn. SAA chief executive Siza Mzimela said the profit resulted from the 6.7 million passengers it carried in the year. The passenger figure was 2.4% lower than the 6.8 million passengers carried in financial 2009.
Mzimela said Africa remained the airline's best profit contributor, and that SAA would continue to focus on the region. Also aiding the improved performance was a 40% drop in the fuel price and an increased R120m loss on the hedging strategy. In 2009, SAA lost R1bn in fuel hedging.
In addition to passenger numbers, SAA's performance derived from operating profits from the major three of its four operating divisions. The only loss-maker was SA Travel Centre.
SAA ended the year with a positive cash position of R3.4bn.
- Fin24.com
