Cathay's 1st Half-Year profit soars 55 percent

[Pieter C. 5]

Cathay's H1 Profit Climbs 55 Percent

 

August 8, 2007

Cathay Pacific Airways posted a 55 percent rise in first-half earnings on Wednesday, on strong passenger demand and synergies from a buyout of rival Dragonair.

 

Cathay said on Wednesday it would focus on taking advantage of its newly acquired Dragonair -- and its extensive network across mainland China -- and partner Air China.

 

Hong Kong's largest air carrier posted a net profit of HKD$2.58 billion (USD$330.8 million) for the January-June period, versus HKD$1.67 billion a year ago.

 

"The second half of 2007 will be an important one," chairman Christopher Pratt said in a statement.

 

Dragonair became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay on September 28. 2006.

 

Cathay Pacific holds a 17.32 percent stake in Air China. The latter said last month that first-half net profit would jump at least 20 times, from just CNY45 million yuan (USD$6 million), under domestic accounting standards.

 

(Reuters)

 

More positive CX news (but I guess that's been posted by our Boeing supporter already ):

 

Cathay Orders Five More Boeing 777s

August 8, 2007

Boeing said on Tuesday that Cathay Pacific Airways has ordered five additional 777-300ER extended-range jets, increasing the Hong Kong-based carrier's commitment to 23 planes.

 

The additional planes have an estimated value of USD$1.4 billion, based on list prices, Boeing said.

 

Boeing said Cathay agreed in 2005 to buy 12 of the planes, and set plans to lease four more. Last year, Cathay exercised options to buy two additional planes, Boeing said.

 

Deliveries are scheduled to begin in September, it said.

 

(Reuters)