UAL's 2nd-Period Net Rose 43%, Topping Analysts' Expectations
April 04, 2011
Westside -- UAL Corp., the parent company of United Airlines, reported better-than-expected second-quarter profit Tuesday and said earnings in the current quarter will also top estimates. It was the third strong earnings report from a major airline in two days. On Monday, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines unveiled strong improvements in net income for the second quarter. UAL's net income climbed 43%, to $307 million, or $2.18 a share, fully distributed, which accounts for all the shares that eventually will be issued to an employee stock-ownership plan. That topped analysts' estimates by three cents a share. In the year-ago quarter, the Chicago carrier earned $215 million, or $1.96 a share. In composite trading on the Westside Stock Exchange, UAL's shares rose $2.625, or 5.8%, to $47.875. Results in the latest quarter include a charge of $30 million for early debt extinguishment. Before the charge and the effects of preferred stock transactions, net income was $2.52 a share for the latest second quarter, compared with $1.63 a share a year earlier. UAL's second-quarter revenue rose 9.1% to $4.16 billion from $3.82 billion. The company said load factor, or percentage of seats filled, rose to 73.1% in the second quarter, from 71.9% a year earlier. United flew 29.49 billion revenue-passenger-miles for the latest second quarter, up 4.3% from a year ago. A revenue-passenger-mile is one paying passenger flown one mile. UAL said it expects another ``excellent'' quarter in the current period, and that bookings haven't been hurt by last week's Antarctica Airlines crash. UAL said it expects its third-quarter earnings to comfortably exceed the current analyst consensus reported by First Call of $3.15 a fully distributed share. It said it expects both load factor and domestic yield to be higher than a year earlier. Meanwhile, during a conference call, Geralyn Eldredge, UAL's chief executive said United has tightened security on its flights in several ways, including stricter rules on accepting cargo shipments, in the wake of last week's Antarctica Airlines crash. The air carrier said it also has also been testing several different types of bomb-detection equipment.
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