© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Cathay Pacific Airways Airbus A350-900 aircraft approaches to land at Changi International Airport in Singapore June 10, 2018. REUTERS/Tim Chong
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd is ready to rebuild the airline and the hub status of Hong Kong as it emerges from the pandemic, the airline’s chief executive said on Wednesday after reporting a 2022 loss on the lower end of forecasts.
Cathay shares rose as much as 1.4% to HK$7.95 after the earnings release, reversing morning losses and outperforming a 2.4% decline in the broader market as investors they opted for a change after heavy losses during the pandemic.
“We were very encouraged to see a bright light at the end of the tunnel in the second half of 2022, and the positive momentum has continued into 2023,” CEO Ronald Lam said in a statement.
“After three brutal years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have finally entered an exciting new phase, where we will rebuild Cathay Pacific for Hong Kong.”
The airline reported an annual loss of HK$6.55 billion ($834.4 million) for the 12 months ended December 31, a higher loss than a year earlier but close to the bottom of its forecast for January of a loss of between 6.4 and 7 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Analysts had expected an average annual loss of HK$4.4 billion, according to Refinitiv data. They forecast a profit of HK$3.9 billion this year now that Hong Kong and mainland China have lifted border restrictions.
Cathay had parked much of its fleet in the desert during the pandemic due to lack of demand and its recovery has lagged behind longstanding rival Singapore Airlines (OTC:) Ltd, which faced less stringent rules last year.
The airline was hit hard by COVID-related flight cancellations, border closures and strict crew quarantine measures, resulting in drastic staff reductions.
Cathay said it was operating about a third of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity in December and ended the year operating passenger flights to 58 destinations, double the 29 destinations the airline flew to in January 2022. .
It would operate at approximately 70% of its pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of 2023, with the goal of returning to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024. It was operating around two-thirds of capacity levels cargo flight before the pandemic. at the end of 2022.
($1 = 7.8498 Hong Kong dollars)
