SAS from red to black numbers As the SAS management presented its year-end report for November 2014 to October 2015 on Wednesday, it soon became clear that the group has accomplished many an airline s dream nowadays, namely turning red numbers into black. Last year s income before tax were MSEK -918, whereas this year s income has grown to MSEK 1,417. Other key figures are (last year s figures in parentheses): Income before tax and nonrecurring items: MSEK 1,174 (-697) Revenue: MSEK 39,650 (38,006) Unit revenue (PASK) increased 3.8% [1] Unit cost (CASK) increased 3.3% [2] EBIT margin: 5.6% (0.4%) Net income for the period: MSEK 956 (-719) Earnings per common share: SEK 1.84 (-3.03) Mr. Rickard Gustafson, SAS president and CEO (photo from SAS) SAS reported positive income before tax and nonrecurring items of MSEK 1,174 for the 2014/2015 fiscal year. This was a significant year-on-year improvement, primarily driven by our
commercial successes, cost measures and, in the fourth quarter, by lower jetfuel costs. During the year, we have implemented extensive improvements aimed at frequent travelers and these have delivered clear results. However, the unit cost after adjustments for currency and jet fuel increased during the year, which is unsatisfactory. We now need to work even more intensively with implementation of the continued cost measures to improve our long-term competitiveness, says Rickard Gustafson, SAS President and CEO, continuing: Altogether, the product enhancements and the implemented cost measures have created new preconditions enabling us to open new long-haul routes to Los Angeles, Miami and Boston next year. We know that competition will intensify moving forward, but given our improved financial position, our focused enhancement initiatives and our customers positive response, we have an excellent starting position. We are continuing our dedicated efforts to make life easier for our frequent travelers with time-saving and smooth journeys to sought-after destinations. Top photo: A Boeing 737 SAS aircraft (photograph from the SAS Group). Scandic listed on Nasdaq Stockholm This week Nasdaq announced that Scandic Hotels Group AB, a mid cap company within the consumer services sector, has started trading of its shares on the main market of Nasdaq Stockholm. Scandic is the 86th company to list at Nasdaq s Nordic markets* in 2015, according to a press release issued by the
stock exchange. Scandic, founded in 1963, is the largest Nordic hotel operator with a strong network in the Nordic region and selective coverage in Germany, Poland and Belgium. In total Scandic s network encompasses 224 hotels and almost 42,000 hotel rooms in seven countries. Scandic has a diversified hotel portfolio, with more than 95 percent of the rooms in the Nordic countries, providing customers with access to quality hotel with a complete product range including hotel accommodations, restaurants and meeting facilities in all key business and leisure destinations throughout the region. Scandic has the largest loyalty program in the Nordic hotel industry, Scandic Friends, with over 1.6 million members. Scandic employs approximately 14,000 people and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Scandic s mission is to create great hotel experiences for the many people. We are extremely happy about the positive reception we have received from institutional investors in Sweden and abroad and the general public, said Frank Fiskers, President and CEO of Scandic Hotels Group. It is a confirmation of our leading market position, the quality of our company and our ability to generate profitable growth. The listing is a key milestone for the company and my team and I are looking forward to realizing our ambitions going forward together with our new shareholders. We are excited to welcome Scandic to the Nasdaq Stockholm main market, said Adam Kostyál, senior vice president and head of European listings at Nasdaq. Scandic will make a strong addition to our vibrant consumer services sector, and we look forward to supporting the company with the increased investor visibility that comes with a main market listing. *Main markets and Nasdaq First North at Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Iceland and Nasdaq Stockholm.
Photo: Scandic Hotels president & CEO Frank Fiskers. Norwegian reports strong improvement in earnings and record high load factor Yesterday Norwegian (NAS) reported its second quarter results for 2015. The pre-tax result (EBT) was MNOK 456, an improvement of MNOK 593 from the previous year. The load factor for this period was 85 percent with strong progress in all of Norwegian s markets. This also applies to the long-haul operation, where the load factor was over 90 percent and the passenger number has more than doubled since the same period last year, a press release issued by the airline states. The load factor for the second quarter was 85 percent, up five percentage points from the same quarter last year. Norwegian s long-haul operation had an even higher load factor of 91 percent. During the second quarter, the airline carried 324,000 passengers on its long-haul network. This means that passenger figures for the long-haul operation has more than doubled since the same period last year, where the passenger number was 139,000. Norwegian currently operates 434 routes in Europe, USA and Asia 21 of which are long-haul routes. All in all, Norwegian has 28 long-haul destinations for sale, with more to come within just a few weeks, including London Gatwick Boston. During the second quarter, Norwegian took delivery of a new 787 Dreamliner and two Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Today, Norwegian has a long-haul fleet of eight Dreamliner aircraft. Four more Dreamliners will be added to the fleet next year;
all of which will be a bigger version of the ones Norwegian operates today. Solid growth in all markets Seven million passengers chose to travel with Norwegian in the second quarter an increase of nine percent. Norwegian s strongest growth in terms of passenger numbers was at London Gatwick, with Oslo Airport as a close runner up. The Spanish airports are also experiencing a solid rise in number of Norwegian-passengers. During this quarter, Norwegian has launched domestic routes in Spain, new routes to the Caribbean, as well as new routes between the Caribbean and the cities of Boston, New York and Washington DC. Despite a weak Norwegian krone, the unit costs are down, ensuring the company s competitiveness in the future. The fuel prices have decreased, which more than outweighs the effects of a weak Norwegian krone. New aircraft consume considerably less fuel than older aircraft, which gives Norwegian a significant competitive advantage. Norwegian boasts one of the world s youngest aircraft fleets with an average age of just four years. During the second quarter, Norwegian s total revenue was almost BNOK 5.9, up 16 percent from the same quarter last year. Norwegian s long-haul routes had a revenue growth of 60 percent. Norwegian s production growth (ASK) for this quarter was 8 percent, while the company s traffic growth (RPK) was 15 percent, which reflects that each of Norwegian s passengers on average flies significantly longer than they did before. In addition, more and more passengers are purchasing optional extras on board. Norwegian named the world s best low cost
long haul airline CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Mr Bjørn Kjos, explaining the challenges of the airline industry. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) It has been a good quarter for Norwegian with a positive growth throughout our route network, particularly on our longhaul network. We fill the seats on our aircraft, we continue to launch new and exciting destinations and, not least, we have received fantastic feedback from our customers in the form of two SkyTrax awards, Norwegian s CEO, Bjørn Kjos, says. In June, Norwegian was voted Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe for the third year running, as well the World s Best Low-Cost Long-Haul Airline for the first time, only two years after launching its long-haul service. Skytrax World Airline Awards is the most prestigious and recognized accolade in the airline industry. Travellers from over 160 countries take part each year in the world s largest airline passenger satisfaction survey to decide the award winners. Top photo: Norwegian machine on the runway. Photograpger: Hans Olav Nyborg, Norwegian.