Korean Air improves full-year profit despite supply chain challenges

Korean Air has attributed a dip in its fourth-quarter passenger revenue to global supply chains that are still experiencing “ongoing recovery”, while maintaining profitability for the full year. In preliminary results released 7 February, the airline says its revenue for the passenger business stood at close to W2.37t ($1.64b), down 3% year on year. It did not elaborate on the precise nature of the supply chain issues, however. Apart from those challenges, Korean says the quarter is a “seasonal off-peak period”. However, it says it has “strategically” adjusted capacity in its network to tap into winter demand. Cargo revenues continued to grow – up 9% year on year to W1.2t – on volumes that largely remained stable, says the SkyTeam operator. For the October-December quarter, Korean posted an operating profit of W477b, more than double year on year. It also swung back to a net profit during the quarter, at W283b, versus a net loss of W235b a year ago. For the full year, Korean says its revenue hit a record high of W16.1t, up almost 11% year on year. Annual operating profit continued to improve, increasing 22.5% to W1.99t, while net profit was up 37% to W1.3tr. The SkyTeam carrier says it will work to “maximise revenue” during the January-March quarter, amid “sustained” long-haul demand and an “anticipated recovery” in the Mainland Chinese market. <br/>