August 28, 2012
Air China posted a 77 percent drop in first-half net profit as high fuel costs, foreign exchange losses and a slowdown in domestic traffic weighed on its bottom line.
The airline, Asia's second largest by market value, on Tuesday reported a net profit of CNY944.5 million yuan (USD$148.58 million) for the first six months, down from CNY4.06 billion a year earlier, it said in a statement.
Air China's net profit was CNY1.06 billion yuan for the first six months, based on Chinese accounting standards, the company said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange.
China's three big carriers - Air China, China Eastern and China Southern - had warned of a more than 50 percent drop in first-half net profit on weak demand growth and higher fuel prices.
