SINGAPORE (May 14): Amidst the collapse in air travel, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has plunged into a loss of $732.4 million in the fourth quarter ended March 31, from earnings of $202.6 million a year ago.
This led the national flag carrier to record a net loss of $212 million for the full year, versus earnings of $682.7 million previously.
The steep drop in passenger traffic also resulted in revenue declines for SIA.
During the quarter, top line tumbled 21.9% y-o-y to $3.18 billion from $4.08 billion.
For the full year, revenue fell 2.1% y-o-y to $15.98 billion from $16.32 billion, wiping out an improvement made during the first nine months.
As at March 31, SIA has a net debt position of $7.14 billion.
The airline has decided not to propose a final dividend for the year, thus, bringing total dividend for the year to 8 cents a share.
“Even as we scaled back operations due to the border closures, the [company] persisted with services to key cities for as long as possible to bring many of our customers home, including Singaporean students who were studying overseas,” SIA says in a May 14 statement.
Looking ahead, SIA says the prospects for a recovery in international air travel in the months ahead depend upon when border control and travel restrictions ease.
There is no visibility on the timing or trajectory of the recovery at this point as there are few signs of an abatement in the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, it says.
SIA adds that it will maintain a minimum flight connectivity within its network during this period, while ensuring the flexibility to scale up capacity if there is an uptick in demand.
On April 30, SIA obtained shareholder approval for its rights issue that is expected to raise gross proceeds of about $8.8 billion.
The airline also has the option of issuing up to an additional $6.2 billion through additional mandatory convertible bonds.
SIA says it will announce the final outcome of subscription to its rights issue by June 3.
The airline adds that it is concurrently exploring other sources of funding, including secured financing and sale-and-leaseback transactions.
SIA closed down 19 cents or 4.8% at $3.81, with 27.1 million shares changed hands.
