All Nippon Airways (ANA) is considering deferring aircraft orders in response to the COVID-19 crisis while strengthening its liquidity with new lines of credit.
As part of its fiscal 2019 earnings release, ANA said it will “review and limit” capital expenditure such as aircraft acquisitions and may revise the timeline. ANA will take a flexible approach to its fleet strategy, CFO Ichiro Fukuzawa said. This will include considering delays to aircraft deliveries. However, Fukuzawa also noted that the carrier’s long-term strategy to expand overseas remains unchanged.
The airline said it is “aiming to finalize” an additional credit line of ¥350 billion ($3.3 billion) from financial institutions. The carrier already has a credit line of ¥150 billion, as well as ¥100 billion in bank loans secured in April.
ANA Holdings reported a net profit of ¥27.6 billion for the 12 months through March 31, which was its 2019 fiscal year. This is consistent with the revised earnings guidance issued by the carrier on April 20. The annual profit was down from the fiscal 2018 net profit of ¥110.7 billion.
The main reason for the profit drop was a revenue decline related to the coronavirus pandemic. Operational performance was robust through the first three quarters of the fiscal year, with “consistent demand” and expansion of the international network. However, COVID-19 travel restrictions caused passenger demand to fall rapidly in the March quarter. The demand decline started at the end of January on routes to China and then spread to Asia, North America, Europe, and Hawaii.
In the cargo operation, demand was down, attributable to slowing economic conditions through the year, the U.S.-China trade dispute, and then the pandemic. Domestic cargo revenue fell 7% year-on-year, and international cargo revenue was down by 17.9%.
Because of the uncertainty related to the COVID-19 crisis, ANA has not issued an earnings forecast for fiscal 2020.
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