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Solid fiscal figures from SAS

SAS financeSAS plane in the air. Photo: SAS

Solid fiscal figures from SAS

SAS had a pre-tax profit of NOK 809 million in its fourth quarter of this year, up from NOK 657 million last year. The turnaround also increased sharply.

 

The result is according to E24 the best result for SAS since the’90s and far better than analysts had expected.

Revenues in the quarter (August to October) rose from NOK 11.6 billion in the same quarter last year to NOK 12.7 billion this year. SAS has a deviating fiscal year and ends on October 31st.

For the full year, earnings before taxes totaled NOK 2.04 billion, up from NOK 1.73 billion from the previous fiscal year. The turnaround increased from NOK 42.7 billion to NOK 44.7 billion.

Delivered in excess

– SAS has delivered in excess of our forecast. We are happy about that. What has contributed to that is that our offer is appreciated by our customers. There were 30 million who travelled with us during the year. That is also a record. At the same time, we are still working on streamlining the business, says CEO of SAS, Richard Gustafson, to NTB.

It was in October that SAS set the passenger record and passed 30.1 million passengers during last year. This figure includes charter traffic, the regular scheduled traffic constitute 28.8 million passengers.

The number of passengers who fly with SAS increases by 0.6 per cent in scheduled traffic, falls by 3.2 per cent in charter and increases 0.3 per cent in total.

Work on efficiency continues

The efficiency enhancement has led SAS to save SEK 723 million during the financial year 2017-2018.

– We said that we were going to save SEK 700 million this year, and we have done just that. We have said that we want to save SEK 3 billion from 2017 to 2020. Now 1.5 billion of this remain, he states.

Gustafson admits that there is a large and extensive work that remains to land with the savings, which will affect all parts of the business.

– It’s partly about season adaptation. We can have more temporary employees during peak seasons. That is an important component. We look over our fleet and we see opportunities to further streamline internal procedures. There are a number of different criteria that affect large parts of the businesses, he continues.

Tougher ahead

According to the results report, the company noticed the increased fuel costs especially in the fourth quarter. From August to October alone, fuel cost was SEK 669 million.

These expenses also take SAS into account for the coming year, and is more cautious in its forecast. In the annual report, they therefore write that SAS expects to be able to deliver «a positive result before tax and non-recurring items» in the coming year as well, which is described as more challenging in terms of fuel cost and a weak Swedish currency.

Facts about SAS’s fourth quarter results in 2018

Key figures from the SAS Group’s income statement for the fourth quarter of 2018, expressed in Swedish currency (SEK). Figures from the same period in 2017 in brackets.

SAS has a deviating fiscal year, so that the quarterly results relate to the period August-October.

  • Operating revenues: SEK 12,678 million (SEK 11,644 million)
  • Operating profit: SEK 940 million (SEK 780 million)
  • Pre-tax profit: SEK 809 million (SEK 657 million)

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today