Air Canada reported a fourth-quarter profit on February 07 helped by higher operating revenue. Canada's largest airline earned C$35 million, or 35 Canadian cents a share for the quarter, which included gains on foreign currency monetary items of C$20 million.
In the same period in 2006, it reported a net loss of C$144 million, or C$1.55 a share, including losses on foreign currency monetary items of $107 million, but said the results were not directly comparable as a result of the spin-off of its Jazz division last year. Operating income for the quarter was C$72 million, compared with a loss of C$5 million for the same period in 2006.
The airline said passenger revenue in the quarter was C$2.2 billion, up 6 percent from the fourth-quarter of 2006. Air Canada's operating revenue was C$2.51 billion, up from C$2.42 billion for the same time in the previous year. Analysts were expecting an average revenue of C$2.48 billion according to Reuters Estimates.
The airline expects 2008 available seat miles to increase between 2.5 percent and 4 percent, for both the Canadian market and on a system-wide basis.