Air Arabia, the UAE's biggest low-cost carrier, said earnings dropped less than analysts' expectations in the third quarter as it flew more passengers and a fall in fuel prices curbed costs.
Net income fell 33 per cent to Dh143.5 million ($39m), or Dh0.03 a share, from Dh214.4m, or Dh0.05 a year earlier, the Sharjah-based carrier said in a statement.
That beat the average estimate of Dh114.4m in a Bloomberg survey of five analysts. Profit fell nine per cent excluding a Dh56.7m one-time gain last year.
Passengers flown by Air Arabia in the first nine months of the year rose 14 per cent to 2.96 million. Third-quarter revenue fell 12 per cent to Dh547.5m.
During the first nine months of 2009, the company registered a turnover of Dh1.469 billion, two per cent lower than Dh1.495bn recorded during the same period last year.
Air Arabia's average seat load factor – or passengers carried as a percentage of available seats – for the first nine months of 2009 stood at a strong 79 per cent.
Passenger traffic in the third quarter of 2009 was impacted by the holy month of Ramadan, concerns related to the H1N1 virus and the consequences of the global financial downturn.
"At a time when the worldwide airline industry is projected to witness collective annual losses approaching $11bn, we are pleased to announce results for the first nine months of this year that continue to exceed expectations, demonstrating our positive performance amid extremely challenging conditions," said Adel Ali, Board Member and Group Chief Executive of Air Arabia.
Air Arabia, which began operations in October 2003, flies to 59 destinations with its fleet of 21 Airbus A320 planes from its hubs in Sharjah and Casablanca in Morocco. Operations from its third hub in Egypt are expected to begin in early 2010.
The Middle East is the only region in the world where air traffic has grown this year. (With inputs from agencies)
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