Al-Jazeera Airways announces best first-half earnings in history

KUWAIT, July 30 (KUNA) -- Al-Jazeera Airways Group announced on Tuesday a record net profit of KD 3.9 million for Q2 of 2013, increasing by 36 percent compared to last year, making the first half of 2013 the airline's most profitable first half in history.
The company had previously announced a record net profit of KD 3.6 million for the Q1. Al-Jazeera Airways Group said the H1 earning record reached KD 7,5 million, increasing by 95 percent compared to last year's record, with a continuous 12 consecutive quarters of profitibility.
The company noted that the revenue in H1 reached KD 30,8 million, up to 9 percent compared to 2012, the operating profit reached KD 9,5 million up to 48 percent compared to 2012, the number of flown passengers increased by 4,1 percent compared to H1 2012, and the load factor reached 70 percent, up by 11, 9 percent of H1 2012.
The company also said its hard assets reached KD 145 million, cash reserves reached KD 47 million, and equity improved by KD 37 million since Q2 2012.
Al-Jazeera Airways Group Chairman Marwan Boodai, said, "We started the year with the objective of building on last year's momentum, and we've been successful so far as reflected in the first half financial, operational, and commercial results", "We've carried more passengers than the same period of last year, with the average load factor exceeding targets, while maintaining operational excellence". "All together, this culminated in the impressive H1 results that were announced today, Our job is far from over and the team is working hard on closing yet another record-breaking year", he added.
In the last six months, Al-Jazeera Airways Group secured funding for the three remaining aircraft of an order of 15 new A320 airplanes said Boodai, adding that the structured loan was led by the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) and DVB Bank SE in Germany. As a result of the loan, the company has secured its financial commitments for the next two years. Last June, Al-Jazeera Airways Group received a brand new Airbus A320 from the manufacturer, making the number of Airbus the company had taken since 2005 reach 13 airplanes, he said, noting that the remaining two aircraft of the order are scheduled to be delivered in October 2013 and May 2014.
On the same context, the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) inducted Al-Jazeera Airways into the Kuwait 15 index KSX15, an index of the 15 top performers on the KSE.
The company's outlook for the rest of 2013 continues to be positive in-line with a growing Kuwaiti economy, which continues to witness higher incomes despite the international and regional economic pressures. The company's forecasts remain unchanged for the rest of the year, while the group expects a seasonal increase in demand in the third quarter, and a mild fourth quarter.
The company which was established in 2005, is a Kuwait Stock Exchange-listed company and fully owns a fleet of 13 airbus distributed between its airline business, with seven aircraft, and its six fully-owned Sahaab Aircraft Leasing.
Jazeera Airways is based in Kuwait and operates a network for high-demand business, leisure, family, and weekend destinations such as Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut, Alexandria, Amman, Istanbul, Sharm El Sheikh, Assiut, Luxor, Mashhad, Sohag, Jeddah, Riyadh, Cairo, and Al Najaf.(end) fnk.ag KUNA 301622 Jul 13NNNN