Continental Airlines (CAL) reported a fourth quarter net income of $85 million or $0.60 per share versus a loss of $269 million or $2.35 per share a year ago.
Excluding $77 million of special charges, and a $158 million non-cash income tax benefit, the company recorded a fourth-quarter net income of $4 million or $0.03 per share in comparison with a loss of $295 million or $2.28 per share in the prior year.
On average, 9 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected loss per share of $0.07 for the quarter. Analysts' estimate typically excludes one-time items.
The company said the fourth-quarter results continued to be adversely affected by declines in high yield traffic due to the global recession.
Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $3.2 billion, a decline of 8.3% compared with the same period in 2008. Six analysts estimated revenues of $3.19 billion for the quarter. Passenger revenue for the fourth quarter fell 9.5% compared with 2008 period, due to lower yields.
Consolidated revenue passenger miles or RPMs for the quarter rose 3.5% on a capacity (available seat mile, ASM) decrease of 0.6% year-over-year. Fourth-quarter consolidated load factor was 82.0%, 3.3 points higher than the fourth quarter of 2008.
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