Virgin Australia Q2 Profit Drops 37 Percent

Virgin Australia Group’s second quarter underlying profit before tax dropped 37 percent to AUD$45.9 million (USD$35.1 million).

Statutory profit before tax came in at AUD$13.1 million, the Brisbane-based airline said in a stock exchange statement.

The group carried 6.3 million passengers in the quarter to end December 2016, a 3.2 percent increase on the previous year. Revenue (in revenue passenger km - RPK terms) was up 2.6 percent on a capacity increase (available seat km - ASK) of 1.3 percent. Load factor moved up 1 percentage point to 81.3 percent.

Virgin’s Tigerair Australia unit saw the biggest gains during the quarter with passenger numbers up 14.8 percent at 1.19 million and RPK revenue up 28.9 percent. ASK capacity was up 24.7 percent.

While Virgin’s domestic figures showed a modest rise, international didn’t fare as well. Passenger numbers and RPK revenue were down 7.1 percent on international routes as it pulled capacity back 8.1 percent in ASK terms.