Singapore Airlines’ net profit fell by 57.4% to $1,184 million despite recording a record revenue of $20,522 million for FY2026, for the 12 months to March 31, up 5% y-o-y or $982 million.
The decline was due to the absence of the $1,098 million non-cash accounting gain recognised in November 2024 upon the completion of the Air India-Vistara merger.
The swing from a share of profits of associated companies last year to a loss this year (-$846 million) was due to the group accounting for its share of Air India’s full-year losses, versus only four months the previous year.
SIA has proposed a final dividend of 22 cents and the second tranche of special dividend of 7 cents. Interim dividend was five cents while interim special dividend was 3 cents, translating into a total dividend of 37 cents.
Group expenditure rose $317 million (+1.8%) to $18,148 million, as the higher non-fuel expenditure (+$677 million; +5.4%) was partially offset by lower net fuel cost (-$361 million; -6.7%).
Non-fuel expenditure increased mainly due to the overall capacity expansion and higher costs that were driven by inflationary pressures. Net fuel cost decreased due to the 5.6% contraction in full-year average fuel prices (-$310 million) and higher fuel hedging gains (-$88 million), partially offset by increased volumes uplifted (+$221 million).
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As a result of higher revenue growth, and lower expenditure growth, operating profit rose by 39% or $665 million y-o-y for the 12 months to Mar 31.
Debt-to-equity ratio fell to 0.62 times as at Mar 31 compared with 0.82 times a year ago due to lower debt and higher shareholders equity.
Cash and bank balances declined by $0.3 billion to $7.9 billion, mainly due to capital expenditure (-$2.6 billion), dividend payments (-$1.2 billion), repayment of borrowings (-$1.3 billion), and lease payments (-$0.6 billion). These were partially offset by $5.1 billion of net cash generated by operations and the issuance of bonds (+$0.5 billion).
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The group also held $1.7 billion in fixed deposits with tenors longer than 12 months, classified under other assets. The group has access to $3.3 billion in committed lines of credit, all of which remain undrawn.
Operationally, SIA and Scoot carried a record 42.4 million passengers in FY2026, up 7.7% y-o-y as air travel remained firm. Group passenger load factor (PLF) rose 1.1 percentage points to 87.7%, as traffic growth of 4.7% outpaced capacity expansion of 3.4%. Passenger yields rose 1.0% to 10.4 cents per revenue passenger-kilometre.
Cargo flown revenue declined by $45 million (-2.1%) to $2,167 million, largely due to a 3.6% fall in yields. Cargo load factor (CLF) edged up 0.2 percentage points to 56.3%, as cargo loads grew 1.7%, slightly outpacing the 1.4% increase in capacity.
SIA says it is committed to its 25.1% investment in the Air India Group. SIA is working closely with its partner Tata Sons to support Air India’s multi-year transformation programme.
However, Air India faces headwinds such as industry-wide supply chain constraints, air space restrictions, constraints on operations to its key Middle East markets, and elevated jet fuel prices.
SIA shares closed at $6.27, down 0.16% for the day and down 2.79% year to date.
