Asiana posts W11.6b in net loss in Q2

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-largest full-service carrier, said Friday it has posted a net loss of 11.75 billion won ($11.3 million) in the second quarter, mainly due to a rise in one-off non-business spending and a stronger won.

The company, however, posted 2.98 billion won in operating profit in the period from an operating loss of 29.93 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales edged up 2.7 percent to 1.41 trillion won

"Because of Asiana's relatively small size, it benefited less from the appreciation of the Korean won vis-a-vis the dollar, that alters the size of assets and liabilities in account books," the source said.

He added that a rise in spending also hurt net earnings figures for the three-month period. He did not elaborate on the extra outlays.

The insider said the return of a leased B747 cargo jet affected operations.

On the other hand, the airline said the introduction of two

A380 super jumbo jets, improved passenger service capacity, while a rise in demand for China and Europe routes bolstered business operations.

He added that the strong Korean won even helped outbound traffic to Japan, which has been hit hard by frayed South Korea-Japan relations in recent years. A drop in passengers to Japan had played a role in the weak bottom for Asiana in the past.

For the future the airline said it will increase the number of flights to Chinese cities, Paris and Seattle, while deploying larger passenger jets to service its Los Angeles and Frankfurt, Germany, routes.

The company said it will also work to meet rises in cargo traffic to China and transit shipments. 

Asiana share closed at 4,515 won on Seoul's main bourse Friday, a contraction of 1.31 percent from the day before. The benchmark KOSPI was down 1.14 percent. The company's second-quarter results were released during the market hour. (Yonhap)