United Continental earnings: US$1.23 per share, vs. expected EPS of $1.18

United Continental reported Wednesday a Q1 profit above analysts' expectations and said it would slow its growth plans because flight capacity has exceeded passenger demand. The airline posted adjusted Q1 earnings per share of US$1.23, compared to $1.52 a share in the year-earlier period. And revenue for the quarter came in at $8.2b, against the comparable year-ago figure of $8.61b. Analysts had expected United Continental to report earnings of about $1.18 a share on $8.2b. A collapse in oil prices continues to hurt demand for travel from energy centre Houston, one of United's principal hubs. At the same time, a surge in flights from LCCs continues to keep US domestic prices low. United said that in response to soft demand, it has reduced plans to add flight capacity in 2016 by 0.5 percentage points. <br/>