American Airlines Group Inc on Friday reported first-quarter profit above analysts' expectations and declared a $0.10 dividend as cheap fuel continued to help its bottom line. American, the world's largest passenger carrier, earned $932 million last quarter, nearly double its profit a year earlier. Excluding special items, it earned $1.2 billion, or $1.73 per diluted share, compared to analysts' average estimate of $1.71 per diluted share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
American said a strong US dollar, competitive capacity growth and economic softness in Latin America caused its revenue to fall 1.7 percent year-over-year to $9.8 billion. Passenger unit revenue declined 1.7 percent, within the range of earlier guidance of a one to three-percent drop.
The Fort Worth-based airline does not hedge fuel so its expenses benefited fully from the oil price decline, and it paid 42.2 percent less for fuel than a year earlier. Unit costs excluding fuel and special charges related to its mainline fleet were up 5.8 percent.