THAI bullish on earnings

Thai Airways is expected to earn at least 130b baht in revenue this year after its net profit in Q1 reached 12.5b baht. THAI CEO Chai Eamsiri said on Friday the airline is expected to finish its financial rehabilitation in 2025 as planned. He said the national carrier earned 41.5b baht of revenue in Q1 -- 271.2% more than the income of 11.1b baht in the same period last year due to increased commercial flights. He added that flights to some popular tourist attractions, such as Japan and Korea, increased in the last quarter, with flights to China returning on March 1. The better earnings gave the carrier 42.2b baht of cash flow, up from 5.7b baht last year. Chai said the carrier would pay the first amount of debt, costing at least 8b baht, to their investors in mid-2024 and will pay its 140b baht total debt in ten years as planned. Regarding Q2 this year, Chai said he expected more than 100% growth compared to last year. However, due to the country entering the low season for tourism, the passenger load rate is expected to be approximately 77%, and earnings are also expected to be lower than Q1, he said. Chai added that the airline would be raising employee salaries by 5% starting this month.<br/>