Another Profit!!!!!!

[B717mech]

UPDATE1-AirTran Holdings quarterly profit falls
July 27, 2004 06:35:00 AM ET


(Adds details, company quote, traffic and capacity)

NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - AirTran Holdings Inc. (AAI), parent of low-cost carrier AirTran Airways, on Tuesday said its quarterly net profit fell, hurt by high fuel prices.

AirTran, which has its main hub in Atlanta, reported net income of $16.8 million, or 18 cents a share, down from $57.2 million, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the year-ago profit was $21.9 million.

Analysts, on average, expected 17 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

"While we achieved a reduction in non-fuel unit costs for the quarter, the impact of high fuel prices offset these gains," Stan Gadek, AirTran's chief financial officer said.

Traffic at the Florida-based airline rose 21.4 percent on a capacity increase of 17.9 percent. REUTERS

© 2004 Reuters

[dbaker]

Not that I really care much about AirTran's profit, but I'm not sure if you realize that you're bragging about bad news. AirTran's profit declined 71 percent and the stock fell on the news that you're bragging about.

Also from reuters:

The carrier, which faces stiff competition from Delta Air Lines in Atlanta, American Airlines in Dallas and Southwest Airlines in Philadelphia, is now facing pressure from Independence Air in Washington, D.C.

Low-fare Independence Air, with its hub at Washington's Dulles Airport, was launched earlier this year by Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings .

"They (Independence Air) have been very aggressive with the startup, offering extremely low fares," AirTran's Chief Operating Officer Bob Fornaro said in an interview Tuesday. "The fares are below the prevailing fares in the marketplace."

Fornaro said Independence was putting pricing pressure on east coast routes, as well as non-stop flights between Atlanta and Washington D.C.

Operating revenue rose to $275 million from $233.9 million a year earlier. Fornaro said the airline would be profitable in the third and fourth quarters but cautioned the third-quarter would be "very challenging" because of excess capacity and limited demand.

"The capacity is not sustainable," Fornaro said about the industry in general. "High fuel prices will exacerbate losses. Most businesses will have to restructure eventually."

. . .

The airline said it expects its load factor, or percentage of seats filled, to fall in the third quarter, with a particularly steep drop in August.

"The main problem is capacity," said Fornaro. "The reason fare hikes don't stick is excess capacity." AirTran plans to cut capacity by dropping service to Greensboro, N.C., and Tallahassee, Fla..

[B717mech]

AirTran, which has its main hub in Atlanta, reported net income of $16.8 million, or 18 cents a share, down from $57.2 million, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the year-ago profit was $21.9 million.

It is very misleading because the 71 percent decline if you would read the entire post you will see that we actually made 21.9 million this time last year. The 57.2 million was including onetime cash items. So with the increase in fuel cost and more competition our profits are just fine. Thanks for the interest though.

This is a qoute from your post.

In the same period last year, it earned $57.2 million, or 74 cents a share, on revenue of $233.9 million.

Results for the 2003 second quarter included a government reimbursement of $37.1 million.

so subract 37.1 from 57.2 and what do you get? 21.9. So it looks good to me considering fuel and more competition.

[haze]

...Settle down there dbaker, AirTran still beat street estimates. Here's the section of that article that you left out, the most important part of course:

Reuters
UPDATE - AirTran quarterly profit falls but beats estimates
Tuesday July 27, 3:24 pm ET
By Jui Chakravorty


(Adds details throughout, analyst quotes, stock activity, COO quotes)
NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AAI - News), parent of low-cost carrier AirTran Airways, on Tuesday said its quarterly net profit plunged, hurt by high fuel prices and a competitive environment.

Still, Orlando, Florida-based AirTran, which has its main hub in Atlanta, beat Wall Street estimates by a penny and said it expects to remain profitable in the third and fourth quarters.

AirTran reported net income of $16.8 million, or 18 cents a share, down from $57.2 million, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier. AirTran is one of three U.S. airlines to post a profit for at least nine consecutive quarters. JetBlue and Southwest are the others.

Analysts, on average, expected 17 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

dbaker always cracks me up with his "...not sure if you even realize" crap, since he's the only one worthy of every realizing anything. But what he fails to "realize" is that you said exactly what you meant, and meant exactly what you said: that AirTran is "one of only three U.S. carriers to post a profit for at least nine consecutive quarters." Right there with Southwest and JetBlue. I don't exactly consider that "bragging about bad news."

B717mech, ask dbaker how much Continental made last quarter