Transportation
American Airlines Earnings Hit Afterburner on Lower Fuel Costs
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On a GAAP basis, EPS came in at $1.30 and included one-time charges of $223 for merger-related expenses, $99 million related to its agreement with the pilot’s union and $9 million in tax charges. The airline also listed $14 million in net benefits that partially offset these charges.
While core demand remains healthy, in the first quarter of 2015 American ran into three revenue headwinds: competitive capacity growth, a stronger U.S. dollar and economic softness in Latin America. Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile was $0.1344, down 1.7% from the first quarter of 2014. Consolidated passenger yield was $0.1682, down 1.2% year-over-year.
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Operating expenses in the first quarter totaled $8.6 billion, a decrease of 7.1% compared with the first quarter 2014 due primarily to a 42.2% decrease in consolidated fuel expense. First-quarter mainline cost per available seat mile (CASM) was $0.128, down 5.2% on a 1.7% decrease in mainline ASMs from the first quarter of last year. Excluding special charges and fuel, mainline CASM was $0.949, up 5.8% compared with the year-ago quarter.
Also in the first quarter, American returned $260 million to its shareholders by way of $70 million in quarterly dividends and the repurchase of $190 million of common stock, or 3.8 million shares, at an average price of $49.47 per share. The airline paid a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.
In January it accepted delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft, a 787-8, is the first of 42 Dreamliners that American ordered in February of 2013. The order includes 16 of the 787-8s and 26 of the larger 787-9s.
American did not offer guidance in its announcement, but the consensus analysts’ estimates for the second quarter call for EPS of $3.24 on revenues of $11.30. For the full year, analysts are looking for EPS of $10.43 on revenues of $42.96 billion.
Softness in demand was more than offset by a drop of nearly 50% in fuel costs. That makes the company’s executives look like geniuses. Regardless, shareholders likely will bid the shares up after this report.
American’s shares closed at $51.45 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $28.10 to $56.20. The stock traded up about 1% in Friday’s premarket to $51.95. The consensus price target from Thomson Reuters was around $68.10 before this earnings report.
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