Scandinavian airline SAS issues profit warning
Weak demand and negative currency effects hit earnings.
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Scandinavian airline SAS expects to post a pretax loss from continuing operations of 1 billion kronor ($139 million) for the first quarter, according to a financial update published Tuesday.
The airline said the projected loss was in line with internal forecasts, adding that its 7.8 billion kronor cost-cutting programme was on schedule.
"This reflects that SAS is moving forward according to plan -- at least that is a positive -- and that they are not behind plan," Jacob Pederson, an analyst with Sydbank, told Reuters, referring to the airline's efficiency plan.
The airline’s yield was down 12.2 percent in January-February, explained by weak demand and negative effects from currency exchange rates.
The governments of Denmark, Sweden and Norway collectively owns 50 percent of the Scandinavian group, which posted a loss of 2.95 billion kronor in 2009 after a loss of 6.36 billion kronor the previous year.
In February the airline announced a 5 billion kronor rights issue in a move to strengthen its troubled balance sheet. SAS had already issued new rights worth 6.0 billion kronor in the first half of 2009.
Shares in SAS were up 0.71 percent to 2.84 kronor at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) Tuesday on a flat Stockholm Stock Exchange.
Last Updated (Tuesday, 30 March 2010 16:23)
