Thursday, US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC) reported a narrower loss for the third quarter compared to last year despite a decline in revenues, helped by lower operating expenses as a result of favorable fuel prices.
The Tempe, Arizona based company said its third-quarter net loss narrowed to $80 million or $0.60 per share from $866 million or $8.46 per share in the prior-year period.
During third quarter, the company recognized special items totaling a credit of $30 million, including a $48 million of unrealized net gains associated with fuel hedge contracts.
Excluding special items, third quarter net loss was $110 million or $0.83 per share compared with $243 million or $2.36 per share last year.
On average, 9 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.94 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Total operating revenues for the quarter declined to $2.71 billion from $3.26 billion in the comparable period last year, contributed by 20% year-on-year decline in mainline passenger revenues. Analysts had estimated revenues of $2.71 billion for the third quarter.
The company was able to turn to an operating income of $6 million from an operating loss of $689 million for the quarter, attributable to 31.3% lower operating expenses when compared with prior-year. The company posted lower expenses as fuel costs and related taxes fell by more than half, compared to last year.
For the nine months, the company's net loss narrowed to $125 million or $1.01 per share from $1.61 billion or $17.50 per share for the same period last year. Operating revenues for the nine-month period declined 16.3% year-over-year to $7.83 billion from $9.35 billion.
LCC shares fell 20 cents to $3.67 on a volume of 12.36 million shares in mid-day trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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