KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia X Bhd, the long-haul budget airline, suffered a deeper loss in the third quarter on lower revenue. The company, in a statement today, blamed "irrational pricing" from competitors and the implementation of the exit tax for its losses.
Net loss for three-month ended Sept 30 widened to RM229.9mil compared with a loss of RM197.5mil.On a nine-month basis, losses swelled to RM393.7mil, or 9.5 sen a share. The stock was last traded at 17.5 sen before the latest quarterly losses were announced.
“It has been a commendable performance considering irrational pricing from competitors and overall yield which was affected by the introduction of exit tax," AirAsia X group CEO Nadda Buranasiri said, The company reported revenue of RM1.01bil, or 6% lower from a year ago, while passengers carried fell 2% to 1,488,657 passengers.
Passenger load factor, however, improved by one percentage point to 81%. Operating losses were reduced by 68% to RM69.5mil. "The company has seen moderate passenger growth when compared to the previous year due to global economic and geopolitical challenges," Buranasiri said.
"That being said, the appetite for air travel in the region has remained robust and as a group we have exercised capacity discipline and embarked on a sustainable fleet and network growth program in line with consumer demand, particularly in emerging and developing Asian destinations where demand for value-driven air travel remains strongest," he added.
Source: The Star Online