Rebound in second half pushes Cathay into the black

HONG KONG: Cathay Pacific Airways said yesterday a rebound in traffic late last year pushed it back into the black, but the SARS crisis still slashed its annual profits by 67% to HK$1.3bil. 

Cathay was shedding US$3mil a day when SARS struck Hong Kong hard in the second quarter 2003, but a record loss of HK$1.241bil during the first six months of the year was more than erased by big gains in the last six months.