Russia’s Utair reports 2018 net loss on fuel costs, staff shortages
Russia’s Utair Aviation posted a net loss of RUB22b ($316.7m) for 2018, reversed from a RUB2.4b net profit in the previous year. Revenue grew 10% year-over-year (YOY) to RUB83.6b. Operating costs reached RUB78.8b, a 15.5% YOY increase; operating profit was down 36.8% YOY to RUB4.8b. The results reflected fuel cost growth, flight staff shortages and the deprecation of the national currency, Utair said. The carrier’s auditor, Ernst and Young, expressed a going concern qualification in the group consolidated audit. The carrier has negative equity of RUB30.6b and its short-term liabilities exceed current assets by RUB75b. Utair denied it would stop flights after Russian media quoted the auditor’s full-year report, saying it will operate all scheduled flights. “The company earns a stable profit from operating activities. The temporary suspension of debt payment obligations in December 2018 influenced last year’s financial result but does not affect the current flight performance. In 2019, Utair will change the debt repayment schedule to return to positive financial results. The carrier has never made any statement about suspending operations,” Utair Passenger Airline president Pavel Permyakov said.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2019-05-02/unaligned/russia2019s-utair-reports-2018-net-loss-on-fuel-costs-staff-shortages
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Russia’s Utair reports 2018 net loss on fuel costs, staff shortages
Russia’s Utair Aviation posted a net loss of RUB22b ($316.7m) for 2018, reversed from a RUB2.4b net profit in the previous year. Revenue grew 10% year-over-year (YOY) to RUB83.6b. Operating costs reached RUB78.8b, a 15.5% YOY increase; operating profit was down 36.8% YOY to RUB4.8b. The results reflected fuel cost growth, flight staff shortages and the deprecation of the national currency, Utair said. The carrier’s auditor, Ernst and Young, expressed a going concern qualification in the group consolidated audit. The carrier has negative equity of RUB30.6b and its short-term liabilities exceed current assets by RUB75b. Utair denied it would stop flights after Russian media quoted the auditor’s full-year report, saying it will operate all scheduled flights. “The company earns a stable profit from operating activities. The temporary suspension of debt payment obligations in December 2018 influenced last year’s financial result but does not affect the current flight performance. In 2019, Utair will change the debt repayment schedule to return to positive financial results. The carrier has never made any statement about suspending operations,” Utair Passenger Airline president Pavel Permyakov said.<br/>
