|
American, the world's largest airline, earned $3.28 billion,
benefiting from a more than 40 percent drop in its fuel bill
from a year earlier.
Excluding special items such as a noncash $3 billion boost from
a change in accounting for tax allowances, earnings rose by 16.5
percent to $1.29 billion, or $2.00 per share. Analysts on
average expected $1.97 per share, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S.
Shares of American rose 1.3 percent to $38.65 in premarket
trading.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline said it had repurchased $1.1
billion worth of shares in the quarter as part of a previously
announced buyback program.
Sterne Agee CRT analyst Adam Hackel called the buybacks
"remarkable" because the company has repurchased about 10
percent of its stock in the last two quarters.
However, intense competition from low-cost rivals as well as
weak demand in Latin America and growing fears of a rapidly
spreading Zika virus in the region cast some concern about
American's top line.
Hackel said the airline's 17 percent drop in passenger unit
revenue from Latin America far exceeded the 10 percent decline
that Sterne Agee CRT forecast.
For all flights, passenger unit revenue, which compares ticket
sales with capacity, fell 6 percent in the quarter.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Lisa Von
Ahn)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
