SIA Group reports a 3.3% growth in third-quarter operating profit to $629 million

• Highest quarterly revenue on record passenger carriage, despite declining yields  amid stiffer competition  
• Net fuel costs down 9.8% on the back of lower fuel prices  
• Unit non-fuel cost remained under control with effective cost management  mitigating inflationary pressures  
• • Net profit boosted by a one-off $1,098 million non-cash accounting gain following  completion of the Air India-Vistara merger in November 2024

SIA GROUP FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 

Third Quarter FY2024/25 – Profit and Loss

 The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group’s financial performance for the third quarter of FY2024/25 is summarised as follows:

The Group revenue reached a record $5,219 million in the three months ended 31 December 2024, up $137 million (+2.7%) from the same period last year, spurred by robust demand for air travel in the third quarter of FY2024/25.

Passenger flown revenue improved by $70 million (+1.7%), with SIA and Scoot carrying a quarterly record of 10.2 million passengers, up 7.2% from the third quarter of FY2023/24. Group passenger load factor fell by 1.0 percentage point to 87.2%, as the 7.2% growth in passenger traffic lagged the capacity expansion of 8.5%. Greater competition due to industry capacity injection continued to put pressure on yields, which dipped 4.5% to 10.7 cents per revenue passenger-kilometre.

Cargo flown revenue increased by $54 million (+9.7%), with loads up 14.6% year-on-year, bolstered by robust demand due to strong e-commerce activity, a step up in freighter charters, and a boost in perishables traffic. Cargo capacity rose 12.8% while the cargo load factor was 0.9 percentage points higher at 56.4%, with yields 4.5% lower.

Group expenditure grew $117 million (+2.6%) to $4,590 million, driven by higher non-fuel expenditure of $258 million (+8.6%), and partially offset by the decline in net fuel cost of $142 million (-9.8%). Effective cost management measures kept the rise in non-fuel expenditure below the growth in overall capacity (+10.1%), despite inflationary pressures. Net fuel cost was lower due to a 20.9% drop in fuel prices before hedging (-$359 million), partially offset by the higher volume uplifted (+$162 million), and the swing from a fuel hedging gain in the previous year to a loss (+$98 million).

Consequently, the Group recorded an operating profit of $629 million for the third quarter of FY2024/25, $20 million (+3.3%) higher than the same quarter in the previous year.

The Group’s net profit rose $967 million (+146.7%) to $1,626 million, predominantly due to the $1,098 million non-cash accounting gain resulting from the disposal of Vistara, following the airline’s merger with Air India in November 2024.

April to December 2024 – Profit and Loss

Group revenue reached a record $14,716 million for the nine months to 31 December 2024, up $472 million (+3.3%) compared to the same period in the previous year. This was led by the rise in passenger flown revenue of $189 million (+1.6%) and cargo flown revenue of $96 million (+5.9%). Heightened competition resulted in lower passenger yields (-6.4%) and cargo yields (-10.2%) year-on-year. Operating expenditure increased $1,210 million (+10.0%), in line with the overall capacity expansion of 10.5%. Net fuel cost was $305 million (+8.2%) higher mainly from an increase in volume uplifted (+$437 million) and lower fuel hedging gain (+$274 million), partially offset by an 8.1% fall in fuel prices (-$367 million). As a result, the operating profit fell $738 million (-34.1%) to $1,425 million.

Despite the lower operating profit, the Group net profit was $268 million (+12.8%) higher on the back of the non-cash accounting gain following the merger of Vistara with Air India in November 2024.