JAL increases profit forecast
Japan Airlines Corp, Asia's largest carrier, raised its forecast for full-year operating profit 37 percent as it lowered costs by speeding up job cuts.
The Tokyo-based company expects operating profit of 48 billion yen ($419 million) for the year ending March 31, compared with an earlier forecast of 35 billion yen, it said in a statement yesterday. The company kept its net income forecast unchanged as it took a 11.5 billion yen provision for a possible price-fixing fine.
President Haruka Nishimatsu has sped up job cuts as he seeks to reduce personnel costs by 50 billion yen this fiscal year and pare back 8 percent of the carrier's workforce by March 2009. The airline also cut low-margin routes and attracted more business-class passengers on flights to China and Southeast Asia.
Net income in the quarter ended September 30 fell 59 percent to 11.6 billion yen as the company took a charge for the possible fine and a 12.4 billion yen charge to pay for early retirements. Operating profit in the quarter surged 63 percent to 65.2 billion yen. The figures were derived by subtracting first-quarter results from first-half earnings released by the company yesterday.
Bloomberg News
(China Daily 11/07/2007 page16)
