Wednesday, Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA), the parent company of Copa Airlines and Aero Republica, reported an increase in earnings for the second quarter, helped by gains related to mark-to-market fuel hedge contracts.
Net income for the quarter surged 81.33% to US$55.2 million or US$1.26 per share, from US$30.4 million or US$0.70 per share in the same period last year. Results for the quarter included US$27.1 million non-cash gain associated with the mark-to-market fuel hedge contracts.
Excluding special items, earnings were US$28.1 million, or $0.64 per share, compared with US$24.8 million or US$0.57 in the corresponding period last year. On average, six analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.64 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total revenues declined 6.8% to US$277.6 million from $297.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Four Street analysts expected the company to report revenues of $287.20 million for the quarter.
Passenger traffic for the months of May and June were negatively affected as a result of the H1N1 flu crisis, which resulted in lower overall demand for intra-Latin America travel, especially to and from Mexico. The company estimates that the H1N1 flu crisis reduced consolidated passenger revenue by about US$12 million
Yield per passenger mile decreased 13.3% to 15.6 cents and operating revenue per available seat mile decreased 20.0% to 11.4 cents.
Revenue passenger miles or traffic grew 7.5% to 1.68 billion from from 1.56 billion in the year-ago period. Available seat miles or capacity increased 16.5% to 2.44 billion from 2.09 billion in the same period last year, with the Copa Airlines segment increasing 18.1% year-over-year and Aero Republica increasing 8.9%. Consolidated load factor decreased 5.7 percentage points to 68.7%.
CPA rose $1.13 or 2.72% and closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $42.62. In extended trading, CPA rose further $1.38 or 3.24% and traded at $44.00.
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