Shares of low-cost carrier AirAsia Bhd climbed to a near record high of RM3.55 on Friday ahead of its dividend going ex on Sept 13.
KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Bhd's earnings for its second quarter ended June 30, 2017, fell 73% year-on-year to RM92.44mil from RM342.12mil a year ago due to a one-off deferred tax charge despite recording higher operating profit.
The low-cost carrier announced on Tuesday 647.2bil rupiah (about RM212mil) was offset by 134.4bil rupiah in current tax credits in Indonesia AirAsia (IAA) during the current quarter.
The group's operating profit rose 26.8% to RM516.54mil from RM401.61mil a year ago. Net operating profit increased at a faster pace of 37.4% to RM395.40mil from RM287.70mil a year ago.
Profit before tax was RM385.81mil, up 5.4% to RM386.81mil from RM253.81mil.
However, net profit for the quarter fell to RM139.88mil from RM341.88mil a year ago due to the deferred taxation of RM318.06mil in the previous year.
"IAA participated in the Indonesia Tax Amnesty Program, where in accordance with the Amnesty Program, IAA shall no longer be liable for any tax liability prior to Year 2016, whilst the existing deferred tax asset in IAA’s books prior to Year 2016 will also no longer be deductible against future profits," the group said in a filing.
Total group revenue in the quarter, however, grew 19% to RM2.37bil in Q2 FY17 from RM1.994bil in Q2FY16.
"The (revenue) growth was attributed to a 10% increase in total passengers carried and a strong seat load factor of 89% in 2Q17 compared to 87% in 2Q16.
"Average fare has increased 11% from RM160 in 2Q16 to RM177 in 2Q17, whilst the overall revenue average sales km (RASK) of the group has improved 11% from 13.89 sen in 2Q16 to 15.35 sen in 2Q17," said Air Asia.
Seat capacity for the quarter rose an additional 762,963 seats or 8% over the previous corresponding quarter.
Group CASK increased 5% to 13.22 sen in 2Q FY17 and group ex-fuel CASK decreased 2% from 8.39 sen in 2Q FY16 to 8.21 sen in 2Q FY17.
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