Cathay misses estimates on fuel hedging losses

Beijing

CATHAY Pacific Airways, Asia's largest international airline by passengers, reported net income that lagged behind analyst estimates after it had losses from fuel hedging and passenger yields dropped. Shares extended losses on the results.

Profit jumped to HK$1.97 billion (S$356 million) for the six months ended June, below the HK$2.22 billion median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of six analysts, Hong Kong-based Cathay said in a statement to the stock exchange on Wednesday. That compared to net income of HK$347 million a year earlier. Sales for the first six months declined 0.9 per cent to HK$50.4 billion.