Tiger Airways ends 4 years of losses as S$7.9m Q4 profit fuels turnaround

TIGER Airways posted a fourth-quarter profit of S$7.9 million, propelling the soon-to-be-delisted low-cost carrier to full-year profitability after four years of losses.

Per-share net profit of 0.32 Singapore cent for the three months ended March improved on the year-ago loss of 0.75 Singapore cent per share, or a S$18.8 million loss in fiscal 2015. For the full fiscal 2016, Tiger had a net profit of S$282,000, or 0.01 Singapore cent per share, compared to a net loss of S$264.2 million, or 17.71 Singapore cents per share, a year earlier.

Fourth-quarter revenue improved 4.1 per cent to S$179.3 million as load factor increased by 3.5 percentage points to 82.5 per cent, although yields remained the same.

Group expenses shrank by 5.5 per cent to S$164.8 million as fuel costs fell by 31.1 per cent to S$44.9 million.

"The board is heartened by these results which indicate that the turnaround of Tigerair is largely achieved," the company said in a statement.

Tiger has been taken over by Singapore Airlines, and it will be delisted pending the announcement of a delisting date.