SAS: shares drop after 'unsatisfactory' results

(CercleFinance.com) - SAS shares dropped over 15% on Thursday after the Scandinavian airline announced "unsatisfactory" full-year results, significantly lower than last year, due to headwinds from higher jet-fuel costs, unfavourable currency movements and strikes.


In its fourth quarter, the carrier, however, benefited from strong momentum in demand, with total passenger numbers up 2.3%. As a result, total revenues increased by over 6% to 13.5 billion Swedish kronor.

Earnings also rose over the past quarter, with income before tax rising to 1.1 billion Swedish kronor from 789 Swedish kronor a year ago.

Despite this strong fourth quarter, SAS did not meet two of its three financial targets for the fiscal year 2019.

Even worse, the company said it expected an increased loss for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 compared to last year.

The shares, listed on the Nasdaq Nordic market, fell by 15.5% after these results.

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