Malaysia's AirAsia X's Q3 results hit by rising costs

AirAsia X said it swung into a net loss in its Q3 from a year earlier, blaming higher costs and lower unit revenues particularly in its main markets of Malaysia and Thailand. The long-haul, low-cost airline cited an overall challenging environment in Malaysia together with higher marketing expenses and lower other income in Thailand, and said both regions saw operating losses. The airline reported a small profit in its Indonesia business, supported by strong revenue from its Bali routes. AirAsia X said costs, measured in terms of cost per available seat kilometres, rose 6% from a year ago, on the back of provision for doubtful debt. A weaker ringgit against the US dollar and higher average fuel prices - up 3% from a year ago - also had an impact. Revenue per available seat kilometres was down 3% year-on-year due to increased capacity on existing routes and promotional fares offered to stimulate new routes, it said. For the July-September period, the airline reported a net loss of 43.3m ringgit ($10.55m), compared with 11m ringgit profit a year earlier. Revenue climbed to 1.12b ringgit, supported by a 23% growth in passenger volume and 4% increase in ancillary revenue per passenger. Better operating statistics and a surge in travel during Malaysia’s school holidays and Eid in August failed to cushion the impact of higher costs. Load factor inched up 1 percentage point to 79%. Q3 is seasonally one of AirAsia X’s leanest periods, and the airline said it expected a recovery in the following quarter, based on booking trends.<br/>