Scandinavian airline SAS reported a smaller than expected fall in quarterly earnings on September 10, boosted by cost cuts, and reiterated it has the potential to post a full-year pretax profit.
The firm said fiscal third quarter pretax earnings fell to 756 million Swedish crowns ($106 million) from 1.18 billion in the same period last year, beating the 650 million predicted in a Reuters poll of analysts.
"This result reflects a market under continued intense price pressure. However, the high passenger growth shows that our strategy is generating effects," SAS Chief Executive Rickard Gustafson said, adding the number of passengers had increased by more than 700,000 compared with the same quarter last year.
SAS, 50 percent owned by Sweden, Denmark and Norway, has been struggling for years with overcapacity and competition from budget carriers such as Ryanair and Norwegian.
SAS repeated there was potential to post positive earnings before tax for the 2013/2014 fiscal year, including a positive effect from changed pension reporting and excluding restructuring costs.
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