• SAS shares rally on new purchase rumours

Scandinavian airline company SAS -- operator of the joint carrier Scandinavian Airlines -- recorded a small fourth-quarter net profit and said it hopes to be back in profit this year as its market recovers.

"Assuming continued recovery in the home market [...] and that no unexpected events occur, favorable conditions are in place for the SAS Group to achieve positive income before tax for the full-year 2011", said acting CEO John S. Dueholm (who was replaced by new chief Rickard Gustafson on February 1).

Net profit in the quarter came to 47 million kronor ($7.3 million), compared with a loss of 1.3 billion kronor in the same period a year earlier. For the full year 2010, it still reported a loss of 2.2 billion kronor, partly over the affect of a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.

The airline's cost savings program, Core SAS, was one of the most important improvements during the year and helped slash unit costs by over 8 percent during the year.

The airline, half-owned by Sweden, Denmark and Norway, has recently been the subject of takeover talk. Shares soared last month after a report said carriers Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways would be ready to enter a bidding war for the beleaguered company.