 |
January 23, 2008 |
|
|
|
 |
CONTINENTAL AIRLINES: Reports 2007 Pre-Tax Income of US$566 Mil. Continental Airlines reported on Thursday 2007 pre-tax income of US$566.0 million, up 53% percent over 2006 pre-tax income of US$369.0 million. Excluding US$24 million of previously disclosed pre-tax special items, Continental's pre-tax income for the full year was US$542.0 million, a 78% improvement over 2006 pre-tax income of US$304 million excluding special items. Continental reported pre-tax income of US$71.0 million for the fourth quarter 2007. Excluding previously disclosed pre-tax special items, Continental recorded fourth quarter 2007 pre-tax income of US$24.0 million compared to the fourth quarter 2006 pre-tax loss of US$4.0 million excluding special items. Continental will record a special non-cash tax charge in the fourth quarter, but has not finalized the amount given the technical nature of the issue. As a result, today the company is presenting its pre-tax results. By mid-February, Continental will finalize the special non-cash tax charge, and will report its net results in the company's Form 10-K. "The outstanding performance of our team has once again set us apart from the competition," said Larry Kellner, Continental's chairman and chief executive officer. "Thanks to the hard work of my co-workers, on Feb. 14, we will distribute US$158.0 million in profit sharing, US$47.0 million more than we distributed for 2006, and the largest profit sharing distribution in our company's history." Revenue and Capacity Total revenue of US$14.2 billion for the year increased US$1.1 billion, or 8.4%, over the same period in 2006. Total revenue of US$3.5 billion for the fourth quarter increased US$366.0 million, or 11.6%, over the same period in 2006. As a result of increases in all mainline geographic regions as well as regional operations, Continental reported record fourth quarter and full year passenger revenue. Consolidated revenue passenger miles for the fourth quarter increased 4.1% year-over-year on a capacity increase of 4.7%, resulting in a fourth quarter consolidated load factor of 79.4%, 0.4 points lower than the fourth quarter record set in 2006. Consolidated yield for the fourth quarter increased 7.1% year- over-year. Consolidated revenue per available seat mile for the fourth quarter increased 6.7% year-over-year due to increased yields. Mainline RPMs in the fourth quarter of 2007 increased 5.4% over the fourth quarter 2006, on a capacity increase of 6.1%. Mainline load factor was 79.7%, down 0.5 points year-over-year. Continental's mainline yield increased 7.6% over the same period in 2006. As a result, fourth quarter 2007 mainline RASM was up 6.9% over the fourth quarter of 2006. "Our passenger revenue performance for the fourth quarter and full year was superb," said Jeff Smisek, Continental's president. "We continued to grow our passenger revenue at a pace significantly greater than our capacity growth, which is a testament to our excellent pricing and revenue management, operational and marketing performance." Financial Results Continental's mainline cost per available seat mile increased 4.1% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year. CASM increased 2.6% for full year 2007 as compared to 2006. During the quarter, the price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed at a peak of US$98.18 per barrel on Nov. 23, 2007. Earlier this month, crude oil prices reached a new intra-day record high of US$100.09 per barrel. Continental's annualized fuel costs increase by approximately US$45.0 million for each US$1-per-barrel rise in the price of crude. "Great cost performance backed up by impressive revenue growth enabled us to record a pre-tax profit in the fourth quarter," said Jeff Misner, Continental's executive vice president and chief financial officer. "The entire Continental team once again outperformed the competition." Continental continues to enhance its fuel efficiency. The carrier is about 35.0% more fuel efficient per mainline revenue passenger mile than it was in 1997. With mainline RPMs up 6.5% for the year, mainline fuel consumption increased only 4.8%. During the quarter, Continental installed winglets on seven of the company's 737-500s and one 737-900 aircraft, and now has winglets on 206 of its mainline aircraft. All of the company's 737-700s, 800s and 757-200s have winglets, as do select airplanes from Continental's 737-300, -500 and -900 series fleets. Winglets increase aerodynamic efficiency and decrease drag, reducing fuel consumption and emissions by up to five percent. Continental hedged approximately 32.0% of its fuel requirements for the fourth quarter of 2007. As of Dec. 31, 2007, the company had hedged approximately 20.0% of its projected fuel requirements for the first quarter of 2008 and 5.0% for the second quarter of 2008. Continental ended the fourth quarter with approximately US$2.8 billion in unrestricted cash and short-term investments. About Continental Airlines Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE: CAL) -- http://continental.com/ -- is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 3,100 daily departures throughout Belize, Mexico, Europe and Asia, serving 154 domestic and 138 international destinations including Honduras and Bonaire. More than 400 additional points are served via SkyTeam alliance airlines. With more than 44,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with Continental Express, carries about 67 million passengers per year. * * * As reported in the Troubled Company Reporter-Latin America on Dec. 18, 2007, Fitch Ratings has affirmed the debt ratings of Continental Airlines, Inc. as: -- Issuer Default Rating at 'B-'; -- Senior unsecured debt at 'CCC'/RR6 Fitch said the Rating Outlook is Stable. As of March 2007, Continental Airlines carries Moody's Investors Service's B2 corporate family rating. The company also carries Moody's B3 senior unsecured rating and Caa1 preferred stock rating. |
|
|
||
|
Today's Top Stories have been selected from the Troubled Company Reporter - Latin America. To receive the Full TCR-LA please CLICK HERE.
