Japanese airline ANA posts record profits on solid demand

An ANA aircraft approaches to land at Narita Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Akio Kon/Bloomberg

Japanese major All Nippon Airlines (ANA) on Thursday posted record profits for the nine months to December thanks to solid demand, but stuck to its full-year forecast.

Parent company ANA said net profits for the April to December period soared 76.7 per cent from a year earlier to ¥152.96 billion (Dh5.14bn).

Operating profit rose 27.4 per cent to ¥165.97bn, as sales grew 11.9 per cent to a record ¥1.49 trillion.

"Amid gradual economic recovery, sales increased chiefly in our passenger flight business," said ANA, the country's top airline by passenger numbers.

The rise in net profit was largely due to income gained from integrating budget carrier Peach Aviation as well as a strong performance in international and domestic passenger flight services.

Business demand was particularly sound in passenger services, the firm said.

It kept its full-year net profit forecast at ¥132bn for the current year to March.

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ANA has had success in recent years, booking an all-time high net profit for the last fiscal year on gains in its international business.

By bringing Peach under its umbrella, ANA - which also controls budget carrier Vanilla Air - is aiming to grab a bigger portion of Japan's low-cost market, analysts say.

ANA increased its stake in Peach in April and currently holds a 67 per cent share.

The earnings came a day after rival Japan Airlines reported a 5.4 per cent rise in net profit thanks to brisk sales at home and overseas.

Domestic flight prices have bottomed out recently on the back of a recovery in demand, and the focus now is "whether airlines can pass on rising oil prices to passengers", Nomura Securities analyst Masaharu Hirokane said ahead of the earnings reports.