Aeroflot expects profit of 2.3 bln rubles for H1
MOSCOW. July 27 (Interfax) - Aeroflot Russian Airlines expects to post a profit of 2.318 billion rubles for the first half of 2012, the company said in a statement following a board of directors meeting on Thursday.
"According to the latest data, a profit of 2.318 billion rubles is expected for the first half of 2012 instead of a planned loss of 1.048 billion. EBITDA is higher than the target figure by more than 100%, and operating profit by 62%," the Russian flag carrier said.
The press release does not specify which profit. In the first half of 2011, the airline increased net profit by 70% to 6.688 billion rubles on revenue up 20.2% to 58 billion rubles.
The board re-elected Kirill Androsov as chairman on Thursday.
The board also approved a program to dispose of noncore assets on the basis of the assumption that asset management should be aimed at maintaining high-performance, high-return assets and selling others.
Aeroflot carried 7.938 million passengers in the first half of 2012, 27.2% more than in the same period of 2011. Passenger turnover grew 20% to 22.619 billion passenger-km.
Aeroflot, Russia's largest airline, is 51.17% owned by the government. The company carried more than 14 million passengers in 2011, up from 11.3 million in 2010.
The airline has a fleet of 122 aircraft based out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport.
