Hot stock: SIA up as much as 3.2% ahead of full-year results release

SHARES of Singapore Airlines (SIA) hit a near 3-week high on Wednesday (May 18) morning, ahead of the national carrier’s results release for the year ended Mar 31, 2022 – to be released after trading hours on the same day.

SIA’s shares rose as much as 3.2 per cent or S$0.17 to S$5.50 as at 10.26 am on Wednesday. The last time the counter closed near this level was on Apr 29. By 10.49 am, SIA was trading 2.6 per cent or S$0.14 higher at S$5.47, with 5.6 million shares changing hands.

The counter closed S$0.10 or 1.9 per cent higher at S$5.43 on Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening, the group released operating results which showed a month-on-month improvement in passenger capacity and passenger load factor in April.

SIA and its low-cost airline Scoot had carried a total of 1.5 million passengers in April, up 62.7 per cent from March 2022. The passenger load factor for the month stood at 72.7 per cent, the highest since the onset of the pandemic.

DBS Group Research also upgraded its call on the Singapore flag carrier to “buy” from “hold” on Tuesday and upped its target price to S$6.20 from S$4.90, after raising its net profit estimates.

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The research team noted that SIA’s passenger traffic will likely recover faster than anticipated, as reopening in the Asia-Pacific region continues to pick up momentum.