ANA bounces back from Covid with first annual profit since 2020

ANA Holdings reported operating income of 120 billion yen (S$1.2 billion) for the full year till March, its first annual profit since the 12 months ended March 2020.

Japan’s biggest airline also gave a better-than-expected forecast for the coming year, saying operating profit should reach 140 billion yen, compared with analysts’ estimates of 136 billion yen. 

ANA’s recovery – after suffering an operating loss of 638 billion yen in the previous two years combined – was helped by cost-cutting and government support, chief executive officer Koji Shibata said at a briefing on Thursday (Apr 27). 

The carrier’s operating profit beat the 103 billion yen forecast by analysts. 

Like other airlines worldwide, ANA is rebuilding from the Covid crisis, with travellers returning to the skies after a long hiatus during the pandemic. The carrier this week said it plans to increase weekly flights between Japan and China by around 50 per cent by June as demand springs back.

For the latest quarter, ANA swung into an operating profit of 21 billion yen from a loss of 57 billion yen a year earlier. That also beat forecasts – analysts had predicted quarterly income of about 6.5 billion yen. BLOOMBERG