Pilots' crisis pushes El Al to Q4 loss

El Al, photo: Sivan Farag
El Al, photo: Sivan Farag

The Israeli carrier's 2016 net profit was $81 million down from $107 million in 2015. 

El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) today published its financial statements for the fourth quarter of 2016 and the entire year.

The company's 2016 revenue totaled $2.038 billion, compared with $2.054 billion in 2015. Its pretax profit amounted to $93 million, compared with $145 million in 2015.

El Al finished 2016 with an $81 million net profit, compared with a $107 million net profit in the preceding year. The company's cash and deposits totaled $212 million as of December 31, 2016, and its equity was $284 million.

El Al's market share of passengers passing through Ben Gurion Airport rose from 32.5% in 2015 to 32.6% in 2016. The occupancy rate on its planes in 2016 was 84%, compared with 83.3% in 2015. The airline's EBITDA totaled $287 million in 2016, down from $331 million in 2015.

El Al's cash flow from current activities amounted to $243 million in 2016, compared with $271 million in the preceding year. As of December 31, 2016, the airline's equity was $284 million, compared with $198 million as of December 31, 2015.

El Al's fourth quarter revenue amounted to $460.8 million, compared with $476.3 million in the corresponding quarter in 2015. The company posted a $2.4 million net loss in the quarter, compared with a $12.2 net profit in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Upon the publication of his company's results, El Al CEO David Maimon said, "El Al reported an $81 million net profit today and growth in all operating parameters, including… a rise in market share to 32.6% and an impressive 84% seat occupancy rate. This year's results were affected by the pilots' crisis, which reached a peak in the fourth quarter of the year. Most of the effect was in the company's operating expenses."

Maimon added, "We are continuing our preparations for the arrival of the new wide-bodied Boeing 787 (Dreamliner) airliners, the first of which is scheduled to arrive in late August. We also continued the trend of renewing our air fleet with the arrival of eight Boeing 737-900 airliners in 2016. The average age of El Al's narrow-bodied planes is currently seven years. At the same time, as we promised, we are continuing our testing of the WiFi flight system, which will be gradually installed on all our Boeing 737-900 planes."

Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on March 22, 2017

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017

El Al, photo: Sivan Farag
El Al, photo: Sivan Farag
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