① China Southern Airlines lost 4.209 billion yuan in net profit last year, a sharp decrease in losses over the previous year; ② failed to reverse losses, mainly due to multiple factors such as the relatively slow recovery of international passenger flights, the overall oversupply of domestic passenger transport, and the high level of oil prices.
Financial Services Association, March 27 (Reporter Lu Tingting) Against the backdrop of multiple adverse effects gradually subsided and demand for air travel continued to recover and release, China Southern Airlines (600029.SH), one of the three major airlines, saw a sharp decline in net profit last year. At the same time, thanks to the year-on-year increase in passenger turnover, which led to an increase in passenger revenue, the company's net cash flow increased more than tenfold over the same period last year.
According to the company's annual report disclosed tonight, the company achieved operating income of 159.929 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 83.7%; net profit to mother was a loss of 4.209 billion yuan, a significant decrease from the net loss of 32.68 billion yuan in the same period last year; net cash flow from operating activities was RMB 40.134 billion, up 1058.27% from the same period last year.
China Southern Airlines previously revealed the reason for the loss in its performance forecast: due to multiple factors such as the relatively slow recovery of international passenger flights, the overall oversupply of domestic passenger traffic, the continued high operation of oil prices, absorption of strategic investment by Sichuan Airlines, poor global supply chains, a sharp rise in aircraft, aviation materials, etc., and the depreciation of the RMB, etc., the company will still face greater operating pressure in 2023.
According to the data, the company's aviation fuel costs increased 59.33% year-on-year to 52,050 billion yuan in 2023. Furthermore, at the end of December last year, five shareholders, including China Southern Airlines, increased the capital of Sichuan Airlines. Among them, China Southern Airlines invested 4.68 billion yuan in cash and physical assets in stages (including 485 million yuan in physical investment of 1 A330-300 aircraft and 4.195 billion yuan in cash).
China Eastern Airlines (600115.SH) and Air China (601111.SH) are forecasting losses in 2023 despite a significant improvement compared to 2022. Among them, China Eastern Airlines expects net profit of about -6.8 billion yuan to -8.3 billion yuan; Air China expects a net loss of about 900 million yuan to 1.3 billion yuan. The main reasons for the change in performance all mentioned that the overall recovery progress of international routes fell short of expectations” and “international routes have not yet fully recovered.”
According to data released by the Civil Aviation Administration, international routes completed a total of 4.892 million passengers in February. The volume of international passenger traffic increased by 593.4% year-on-year, recovering to 81.8% in the same period in 2019, and rebounded for 3 consecutive months.
The new season will begin (the 2024 summer and autumn season flight plan will be implemented from March 31 to October 26, 2024). The reporter learned that the total number of flights planned by China Southern Airlines Group for the 2024 summer and autumn season exceeds 620,000. After the season change, it plans to implement 988 routes, with an average daily flight volume of nearly 3,000. Internationally and regionally, China Southern Airlines plans to operate 188 routes, reaching countries and regions such as Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Africa.