SINGAPORE, 7 August 2023: The SIA Group posted a net profit of $734 million in the first three months of FY2023/24, the highest quarterly performance in its history, as the airline reports travel demand driving record load factors.
Near-term forward passenger bookings remained robust on the back of solid demand for air travel through the mid-year school holidays and the start of the summer travel season.
Group passenger capacity expanded by 32.4% year-on-year as restrictions on international air travel eased globally. SIA and Scoot carried 8.4 million passengers during the quarter, 65.5% higher than a year before, with strong demand across all route regions and market segments.
Passenger traffic and load factors improved across all markets, with the year-on-year traffic growth of 49% outpacing the capacity expansion.
The Group achieved a record quarterly passenger load factor (PLF) of 88.9%, with SIA’s PLF at a record 88.1% and Scoot’s at a record 91.7%
Revenue
As a result, the SQ Group’s revenue rose SGD551 million (+14.0%) year-on-year to SGD4,479 million, with the higher passenger flown revenue of SGD1,001 million (+37.4%), partially offset by SGD555 million (-50.6%) decline in cargo flown revenue.
Expenditures
Expenditure increased SGD353 million (+10.5%) year-on-year to SGD3,725 million, with the rise in nonfuel expenditure of SGD572 million (+27.3%) partly offset by an SGD220 million decrease (-17.3%) in net fuel cost. Net fuel cost fell to SGD1,053 million mainly
due to a 33.4% decrease in fuel prices (-SGD599 million), despite higher volumes uplifted (+SGD305 million) and lower fuel hedging gains (+SGD101 million). The 27.3% increase in nonfuel expenditure was within the 32.4% increase in passenger capacity.
Operating and net profit
The Group posted an operating profit of SGD755 million, SGD199 million (+35.8%) better than the SGD556 million operating profit a year before. SIA generated a record operating profit of SGD738 million, an improvement of SGD113 million.
Operating profit for Scoot was SGD24 million, up SGD76 million compared to the prior year.
Group quarterly net profit was up SGD364 million, or 98.4% higher than last year at SGD734 million. The profit was mainly attributable to the better operating performance (+SGD199 million), a net interest income versus a net finance charge last year (+SGD144 million), and a share of profits versus a share of losses of associated companies last year.
