$CATHAY PAC AIR.HK$ Announcing the mid-term performance for 2024, the revenue was HKD 49.604 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%; Shareholders of Jiangxi Guotai Group's share of the surplus decreased by 15.3%, with HKD 3.613 billion; The basic earnings per share of common stock were HKD 52.4 cents, and the mid-term dividend per share was HKD 0.2.
According to the announcement, the decrease in net profit on a yearly basis was mainly due to the normalization of ticket prices. At the same time, the performance from affiliated companies (mostly recognized three months late) resulted in a net loss of HKD0.342 billion (a loss of HKD2.632 billion in the first half of 2023).
In the first half of 2024, Cathay Pac Air's passenger revenue increased to HKD30.017 billion, a 20% increase over the same period in 2023. Available seat kilometers increased by 42.7%, while revenue passenger kilometers increased by 34.9%. In the first half of 2024, the airline carried a total of 10.7 million passengers, with an average daily carriage of about 0.059 million, a 36.4% increase over the first half of 2023. The load factor was 82.4%, compared to 87.2% in the first half of 2023. The yield decreased by 11% to HKD0.689.
In the first half of 2024, Cathay Pacific Cargo obtained revenue of HKD10.902 billion, a 1.5% increase over the same period in 2023. Available freight tonne kilometers increased by 11.4%. Freight tonne kilometers increased by 4.6%, and overall freight tonnes carried increased by 10.4% to 0.719 million tonnes. The load factor was 59.9%, compared to 63.8% in the first half of 2023. The yield decreased by 2.9% to HKD2.68.
In addition, Cathay Pacific Air announced that according to the agreement, it will purchase 30 Airbus A330-900 aircraft from Airbus, with expected delivery before the end of 2031, and the right to purchase an additional 30 aircraft of the same model. The basic price of the aircraft is about USD 11 billion, or about HKD 85.8 billion. Due to the significant price discount offered by Airbus, the actual price is lower than the basic price and it is believed that the price discount obtained from the trade will not have a significant impact on the company's future fleet operation costs.