The Scandinavian airline group SAS disappointed once again the investors this morning when it presented a loss for the fourth quarter which was much larger than expected.
Net income for the last three months of 2009 was a loss of SEK 1.3 billion. The analysts had expected a loss of SEK 380 million.
The consequence is that the loss for the full year 2009 was far larger than expected by the market.
The expectations were a total net result of a little over minus SEK 2 billion, but the actual result was instead near SEK -3 billion.
Therefore the SAS management is ready to implement another major cost-savings program. The Board of Directors have also decided on a rights issue of about SEK 5 billion.
»2009 was probably the most challenging year that the entire aviation industry has experienced due to the deep recession that has affected the global economy since the beginning of the financial crisis,« president and CEO, Mats Jansson, wrote in the financial report.
He notes in particular the sharp downturn in the economy which led to an extremely large decline in business travel which is an important reason for the large loss last year.
»Market conditions deteriorated far more extensively than originally expected when the Core SAS strategy was initiated a year ago. The weak economic trend in 2009 had a serious effect on SAS’ passenger volumes and yield and, accordingly, revenue, which consequently had a very adverse impact on SAS’ liquidity,« Mats Jansson wrote.
For the full year 2009 revenue amounted to SEK 44.9 billion against the expected SEK 45.1 billion.
Net income for the last three months of 2009 was a loss of SEK 1.3 billion. The analysts had expected a loss of SEK 380 million.
The consequence is that the loss for the full year 2009 was far larger than expected by the market.
The expectations were a total net result of a little over minus SEK 2 billion, but the actual result was instead near SEK -3 billion.
Therefore the SAS management is ready to implement another major cost-savings program. The Board of Directors have also decided on a rights issue of about SEK 5 billion.
»2009 was probably the most challenging year that the entire aviation industry has experienced due to the deep recession that has affected the global economy since the beginning of the financial crisis,« president and CEO, Mats Jansson, wrote in the financial report.
He notes in particular the sharp downturn in the economy which led to an extremely large decline in business travel which is an important reason for the large loss last year.
»Market conditions deteriorated far more extensively than originally expected when the Core SAS strategy was initiated a year ago. The weak economic trend in 2009 had a serious effect on SAS’ passenger volumes and yield and, accordingly, revenue, which consequently had a very adverse impact on SAS’ liquidity,« Mats Jansson wrote.
For the full year 2009 revenue amounted to SEK 44.9 billion against the expected SEK 45.1 billion.
