Air Canada’s comeback from pandemic shutdowns appears to be gaining momentum after the airline posted a profit in its latest quarter, offering hope the industry has turned a corner even as the country’s largest airline posted a $1.7 billion loss for the year.
The company reported a $168-million profit for the three months ending Dec. 31, as passenger and operating revenues recovered to record highs.
The period included the turbulent Christmas travel season that culminated in a continent-wide storm that caused “four-foot icicles” on some aircraft, an airline executive said during a call with analysts on Friday.
“Weather events were more extreme than usual, even for Canada,” Air Canada’s chief operations officer Craig Landry said. “It also coincided with some of the highest peak travel dates of the holiday season.”
Extreme cold in Calgary made de-icing activities unsafe, baggage handling systems in Toronto froze, giant icicles formed on aircraft and bridges in Vancouver, and heavy snowfall affected takeoff and landing times across the country, he said.
“As flights take progressive delays due to weather, this can cause our crews to exceed their maximum duty days,” Landry said. “It can lead to unplanned flight cancellations.”
Despite the challenging winter conditions, the Montreal-based airline’s fourth-quarter profit amounted to 41 cents per diluted share, compared with a loss of $493 million or $1.38 in the same period during 2021.
Overall, Air Canada still posted a $1.7 billion loss for the year amid a rocky recovery from COVID-19 restrictions and a chaotic summer travel season marked by delays and cancellations as airports, border services and airlines struggled to cope with a surge in passengers.
But its strong fourth quarter helped brighten the outlook for 2023 and has the leadership of the country’s largest airline charting a turnaround.
Indeed, Air Canada announced plans to boost capacity this year.
The company said it plans to increase its so-called available seat miles — an aviation term that refers to an airline’s carrying capacity and ability to generate revenues — by about 50 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period last year.
For 2024, Air Canada said it expects its capacity to reach 2019 levels — a target that signals a complete post-pandemic recovery for the airline.
“The progress is a tribute to the deep resilience we have built into our company for long term stability,” Michael Rousseau, chief executive of Air Canada, said during a call with analysts.
“We expect a solid demand environment in 2023,” he said. “In anticipation, we are building out our global network, continuing our narrow-body fleet renewal, and investing in technology and customer service.”
In its latest quarter, revenue from Air Canada’s core passenger business was up about two per cent compared with the same period of 2019 before the pandemic hit.
The airline’s premium cabin revenue was about 13 per cent higher, supported in part by its loyalty program Aeroplan.
The airline’s vacations ground package revenues contributed to growth in other revenues of $62 million, about 23 per cent higher than the fourth quarter of 2019, Rousseau said.
Air Canada Cargo revenue was up 55 per cent compared to the same quarter pre-pandemic.
Meanwhile, although the airline offered an optimistic outlook for 2023, a slowing economy could weigh on demand and derail Air Canada’s recovery.
The company’s adjusted earnings totalled $389 million, an increase from $22 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Air Canada’s passenger revenues hit $4.06 billion, doubling from the fourth quarter 2021 and about two per cent higher than the same period in 2019.
Operating revenues reached $4.68 billion, 71 per cent higher than the fourth quarter 2021 and about six per cent higher than the same quarter in 2019.
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
