Gol swings to $45.6 million profit

Gol reported third-quarter net income of BRL77.9 million ($45.6 million), reversed from a BRL510.7 million loss in the year ago period when foreign exchange losses and interest expenses weighed down the bottom line.

The Brazilian carrier said its positive quarter reflected the "optimization of its cost structure" as it continued to benefit from "synergies" created by the merger of Gol's and Varig's operations at the end of 2008. It also noted that it is focused "on more profitable markets," operating a nearly all-737NG fleet on short-haul flying in Brazil and within South America.

It said it will continue to build on its strategy of serving long-haul international routes via codesharing. To date, it has inked codeshare deals with American Airlines, Air France KLM, Iberia and AeroMexico, airlines that combined operate 18.6% of international flights to/from Brazil. "Thanks to the codeshare agreements, Gol will benefit from the development of international long-haul traffic without having to compete in a market that is dominated by global players and which is likely to become even more competitive," Gol management said in a statement.

The carrier noted that its cash position was enhanced by raising BRL627.1 million through the sale of 38 million common and preferred shares, part of a global offering comprising 62.2 million shares that netted BRL1.07 billion (ATWOnline, Oct. 20).

Third-quarter revenue decreased 16.3% to BRL1.5 billion while expenses fell 17% to BRL1.4 billion, producing operating income of BRL99.1 million, down 4.3% from BRL103.6 million last year. Traffic rose 12.8% to 6.71 billion RPKs while capacity increased 3% to 10.21 billion ASKs, producing a load factor of 65.7%, up 5.7 points. Yield lowered 30.2% to BRL18.92 cents as RASK dipped 18.8% to BRL14.65 cents and CASK dropped 19.5% to BRL13.68 cents. CASK excluding fuel decreased 5.4% to BRL8.93 cents.

by Aaron Karp

Originally published 11 Nov 2009 at: http://feeds.atwonline.com/~r/AtwDailyNews/~3/Vf8Goo3b8AA/story.html