SIA pays investors $2b
Saturday, May 12, 2007
SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA), the world's most valuable carrier, yesterday announced a hefty $2.16 billion (US$1.4 billion) payout to investors after it reported a better-than-expected 72 per cent jump in annual profit.
The airline said it would return $1.537 billion as part of a capital reduction to improve its capital structure, cancelling one share for every 15 held.
Singapore Airlines will also pay shareholders a special dividend of 50 Singapore cents per share, on top of its 2006/07 dividend of the same amount, bringing the airline's total payout to shareholders for the year to $2.79 billion. "It's something to make shareholders happy and to give back what they have made in the past year," Standard & Poor's analyst Shukor Yusof said.
Full-year profit rose to $2.13 billion, from $1.24 billion in the previous year, beating an average forecast of $1.85 billion from 15 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. Profit was boosted by a $421 million gain from the sale of a 35.5 per cent stake in Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (Sale) to Bank of China in December as well proceeds from a property divestment.
Net profit in the fourth quarter beat expectations by a wide margin, more than doubling to $671 million, from $266 million a year ago. Singapore Air warned investors in February that sales growth would be limited by a capacity shortfall due to delivery delays for the new Airbus A380 superjumbo, now due to arrive in October. The airline will be the first to fly the plane commercially. Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng told a news conference that talks with Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines over the purchase of a stake in the mainland carrier started 10 months ago had not reached a stage where "we have any announcements to make". Analysts say Singapore Air, which focuses on business travellers, faces a static home market and could benefit greatly from getting a foothold in China's commercial capital Shanghai as air travel rises in the world's fourth-largest economy.
Singapore Air's shares have risen four per cent so far this year, just beating Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and Qantas Airways.Singapore Air, the city-state's only global brand, is among the world's most profitable airlines thanks to its focus on cost and efficiency. Reuters
The airline said it would return $1.537 billion as part of a capital reduction to improve its capital structure, cancelling one share for every 15 held.
Singapore Airlines will also pay shareholders a special dividend of 50 Singapore cents per share, on top of its 2006/07 dividend of the same amount, bringing the airline's total payout to shareholders for the year to $2.79 billion. "It's something to make shareholders happy and to give back what they have made in the past year," Standard & Poor's analyst Shukor Yusof said.
Full-year profit rose to $2.13 billion, from $1.24 billion in the previous year, beating an average forecast of $1.85 billion from 15 analysts polled by Reuters Estimates. Profit was boosted by a $421 million gain from the sale of a 35.5 per cent stake in Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (Sale) to Bank of China in December as well proceeds from a property divestment.
Net profit in the fourth quarter beat expectations by a wide margin, more than doubling to $671 million, from $266 million a year ago. Singapore Air warned investors in February that sales growth would be limited by a capacity shortfall due to delivery delays for the new Airbus A380 superjumbo, now due to arrive in October. The airline will be the first to fly the plane commercially. Singapore Airlines CEO Chew Choon Seng told a news conference that talks with Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines over the purchase of a stake in the mainland carrier started 10 months ago had not reached a stage where "we have any announcements to make". Analysts say Singapore Air, which focuses on business travellers, faces a static home market and could benefit greatly from getting a foothold in China's commercial capital Shanghai as air travel rises in the world's fourth-largest economy.
Singapore Air's shares have risen four per cent so far this year, just beating Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd and Qantas Airways.Singapore Air, the city-state's only global brand, is among the world's most profitable airlines thanks to its focus on cost and efficiency. Reuters
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