AirAsia's Q4 profit drops 20% on fuel, tax costs

Malaysian low cost airline AirAsia reported a 20% slide in quarterly net profit on Tuesday hurt by higher operating expenses and tax charges. Its fuel expenses rose 66% while maintenance and overhaul increased threefold, a financial statement filed to the bourse showed. Part of that reflected growth as AirAsia expanded its fleet by 17% to 123 aircraft. Its fuel consumption increased 19% while fuel prices rose 8%. Higher current and deferred tax charges weighed on the airline’s profits, as well. Net profit for the three months to December 31 fell to 372.6m ringgit (US$95.39m) from 465.3m a year earlier. Revenue rose 37% to 2.66b ringgit from 1.94b, although revenue per available seat km fell 4%. Load factor rose 1 percentage point to 88% in the quarter while total passenger volume was up 17% to 10.4m to outpace 16% growth in capacity. The group said it expects to have an average load factor of 87% in Q1 2018, based on current forward booking. The group is also planning for a net increase of five aircraft through operating leases in Q1 of 2018 to meet growing demand in the region, it said in a bourse filing.<br/>