Finnair Group Interim Report 1 January–31 March 2018

Finnair Plc Interim Report                       25 April 2018 at 9.00 EET

Strong growth continued – Comparable operating result has improved for 14 consecutive quarters and totalled 3.9 million euros in Q1

January–March 2018

•  Revenue increased by 14.6% to 635.3 million euros (554.4)*.
•  Available seat kilometres (ASK) grew by 18.9%.
•  Passenger load factor (PLF) increased by 1.5 points to 82.9%.
•  Comparable operating result was 3.9 million euros (-9.0). Operating result was 6.0 million euros (-10.0).
•  Net cash flow from operating activities was 78.0 million euros (23.9), and net cash flow from investing activities was -53.9 million euros (145.1).**
•  Unit revenue (RASK) decreased by 3.6%. Unit revenue at constant currency decreased by 1.7%.
•  Unit cost (CASK) decreased by 5.8%, and unit cost at constant currency excluding fuel decreased by 4.5%.
•  Earnings per share were -0.01 euros (-0.09).

*    Unless otherwise stated, comparisons and figures in parentheses refer to the comparison period, i.e. the same period last year.
**   Net cash flow from investing activities in Q1, includes 9.9 million euros of redemptions from money market funds or other financial assets maturing after more than three months. These redemptions are part of the Group’s liquidity management.

Outlook

Global airline traffic is expected to grow strongly in 2018. Finnair expects increased competition as existing and new operators increase capacity, particularly on routes linking Europe with Asia and North America.

Finnair plans on increasing its capacity by more than 15 per cent in 2018, with most of this growth coming in the first half of the year. Passenger volume is expected to grow broadly in line with capacity while revenue growth is expected to be slightly lower.

In line with its disclosure policy, Finnair will issue guidance on its full-year comparable operating result as part of its half-year report in July.

CEO Pekka Vauramo:

I am delighted that for the first time in ten years we achieved a profitable comparable operating result in the first quarter, carrying a record three million passengers as well as expanding capacity by nearly one fifth in a quarter that is traditionally the weakest for us. I wish to thank all those working at Finnair for this achievement and for going above and beyond to make our growth possible and serve our customers in the best possible way.

Our passenger numbers developed robustly in all traffic areas and our passenger load factor improved. Especially international leisure travel demand, transfer traffic to Nordic countries, and local demand increased. Also ancillary sales, cargo and travel services revenue developed well – but I still see great potential for growing revenue in these areas.

The market environment continues to be highly competitive, with new market entrants and increasing jet fuel prices challenging the current industry dynamics. During the quarter, difficult weather conditions caused flight delays and cancellations, which affected our customer satisfaction; however, we are redoubling our efforts to work more closely with the local airport operator Finavia to serve our customers even better in exceptional weather circumstances.

We have introduced many novelties and new service elements to our passengers to make their travel more comfortable. The wellbeing and safety of our customers and employees continues to be a priority for us, while we strive to be the best for service, quality, and customer and employee satisfaction.

Our long-haul fleet renewal in 2015–2017, as well as our recent decisions to advance the deliveries of two A350 aircraft to 2019 and 2020, have positioned Finnair to benefit from the anticipated market growth in traffic between Asia and Europe. We will continue to invest in customer experience, people experience and transformation, to enhance our competitive offering and to support continued profitability.  

Financial reporting

The publication dates of Finnair’s financial reports in 2018 are as follows:

Interim Report 1 January–30 June 2018:                           17 July 2018
Interim Report 1 January–30 September 2018:                  25 October 2018 

FINNAIR PLC
Board of Directors

Briefings 

Finnair will hold a results press conference on 25 April 2018 at 11:00 a.m. and an analyst briefing at 12:30 p.m. at its office located at Tietotie 9. An English-language telephone conference and webcast will begin at 2:30 p.m. Finnish time. The conference may be attended by dialling your local access number 09 7479 0361 (Finland), 0200 880 389 (Sweden), 0800 358 6377 (UK) or +44 (0)330 336 9105 (all other countries). The confirmation code is 7914394. To join the live webcast, please register at: https://slideassist.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1190558 

For further information, please contact:
Chief Financial Officer Pekka Vähähyyppä, tel. +358 9 818 8550, pekka.vahahyyppa@finnair.com 
Director, Financial Communications Mari Reponen, tel. +358 9 818 2037, mari.reponen@finnair.com 

FINNAIR PLC

Further information:
Finnair communications, 358 9 818 4020, comms(a)finnair.com

Distribution:
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Finnair is a network airline specialising in passenger and cargo traffic between Asia and Europe. Helsinki’s geographical location gives Finnair a competitive advantage, since the fastest connections between many European destinations and Asian megacities fly over Finland. Finnair’s vision is to offer its passengers a unique Nordic experience, and its mission is to offer the smoothest, fastest connections in the northern hemisphere via Helsinki and the best network to the world from its home markets. Finnair is the only Nordic network airline with a 4-star Skytrax ranking and a member of the oneworld alliance. In 2017, Finnair’s revenues amounted to EUR 2,568.4 million and it carried almost 12 million passengers. Finnair Plc’s shares are quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki.