El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) ended the first quarter of 2015 with a 1.1% increase in revenue to $419.8 million, with operating profit soaring to $52.41 million. The company reported that its bottom-line net loss narrowed to $15.99 million, compared with a $39.65 million loss in the first quarter of 2014.
El Al explains that revenue from passengers increased by 1.2%, mostly due to growth in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), which was impacted by the timing of Passover, and was offset by a decrease in yield per PKM due to a decrease in airfares because of competition and the significant decline in the number of foreign tourists during the reporting period
Freight transport revenues increased by 1.6%, primarily due to an increase in tonne-kilometers (TKM) flown, offset by a decrease in yield per TKM. Other income decreased by 3.4% compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.
El Al CEO David Maimon said, "The company has shown a significant improvement in results in the first quarter of 2015. The results were influenced by an increase in activity and in the number of passengers that the airline carried, which increased the company's market share by 6% to 35.4%. The first quarter was also positively affected by the strengthening of the dollar and the fall in fuel prices."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 20, 2015
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