JetBlue 1Q Profit

[T45Flyer]

JetBlue profits nose-dive
Low-fare air carrier earnings fall 54 percent; company posts first losing quarter since April 2002.
April 21, 2005: 11:24 AM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JetBlue Airways Corp. reported Thursday that quarterly profit slid 54 percent as it grappled with record fuel prices, though the result beat forecasts.

JetBlue, which has posted a profit every quarter since its initial public offering in April 2002, said net income fell to $7 million, or 6 cents per share, compared with $15.2 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier.

Wall Street analysts had forecast first-quarter EPS at the New York-based airline at 3 cent a share.

JetBlue's (up $0.93 to $20.40, Research) shares were up 3.03 percent in morning trade on Nasdaq.

Susan Donofrio, an analyst at Fulcrum Global Partners, said the results were "pretty much in line" with her expectations.

JetBlue has some of the lowest costs in the airline industry, helped by high productivity and low labor expenses as well as one of the youngest jet fleets in the industry.

But the airline, which has been rated highly in customer service surveys, has not been immune to soaring energy costs.

JetBlue, which has been expanding its fleet aggressively, said revenue rose 29.5 percent to $374 million, beating a Reuters Research forecast of $363 million.

"Looking ahead, we're seeing good strength in the second quarter as our customers demonstrate their loyalty," JetBlue Chief Executive David Neeleman said in a statement.

JetBlue shares have outperformed the sectoral Amex Airlines index by about 6 percent so far this year.

 

[Dizel8]

Clearly I am missing something, since it says that jetblue posted a loss!

First-quarter earnings totaled $7 million, or 6 cents a share, down from $15.2 million, or 14 cents a share, last year.

Analysts had expected a per-share profit of 3 cents a share, according to Thomson First Call.

Revenue in the quarter rose to $374.2 million, an increase over $289 million last year.

Fuel costs increased 76% to $86.6 million while labor costs rose 27% to $98.5 million. In the prior quarter, fuel costs almost doubled. The average price paid per gallon was $1.31 in the first quarter, up 43% over the year-ago period.

Cost per available seat mile rose 11% to 6.74 cents, but would have been 6.32 cents, or a 4% increase, excluding fuel.

Operating margins came to 6.9%, the company said, reporting its 17th profitable quarter in a row.

"We gave guidance at last quarter that we would do between 4% and 6% margins. The interesting thing is we used a $1.23 per gallon charge and we ended up with $1.31. So on higher fuel prices we had a margin that was out of the range," said JetBlue Chairman David Neeleman during a conference call after the company's results.

The average fare in the first quarter was $105.26, which was down modestly from $105.51 last year. Traffic rose 32%, as well.

The airline, known for its low fares and in-flight entertainment systems, also raised its airfares in the first quarter, joining other airlines trying to offset higher fuel expenses.

The company currently has 73 aircraft, and is readying an expansion this year with smaller jets from Brazilian jetmaker Embraer (ERJ: news, chart, profile) that will augment its Airbus fleet.

Shares rose 3.5% to $20.15 in morning action.

 

[T45Flyer]

Dizel8 "Clearly I am missing something, since it says that jetblue posted a loss!"


No kidding. I can't believe Reuters actually screwed up. I mean, there usually so impartial and accurate.

 

[Dizel8]

I guess they changed it from "losing" to "declining"!

"JetBlue profits nose-dive

Low-fare air carrier earnings fall 54 percent; first declining quarter since April 2002.
April 21, 2005: 11:52 AM EDT"

 

[B6Driver]

Bad news just sells much better then good, even if its wrong.

 

[cgmason1]

Here is the real deal

NEW YORK (AP) -- JetBlue Airways Corp. on Thursday said profit fell by more than half in the first quarter, but its earnings still topped Wall Street estimates as the low-cost carrier fended off soaring fuel costs amid a bounceback in passenger traffic.

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document.write('[url="http://view.atdmt.com/NMK/view/yhxxxaud0230000093nmk/direct/01/&time=1114111804843961"]http://view.atdmt.com/NMK/view/yhxxxaud0230000093nmk/direct/01/&time=1114111804843961[/url]');[url="http://view.atdmt.com/NMK/view/yhxxxaud0230000093nmk/direct/01/&time=1114111804843961"]http://view.atdmt.com/NMK/view/yhxxxaud0230000093nmk/direct/01/&time=1114111804843961[/url]The company's profit report came as a relief to investors after legacy airlines Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. posted wider quarterly losses earlier in the day. Shares of JetBlue jumped $1.17, or 6 percent, to $20.64 in afternoon Nasdaq trading.

Quarterly net income plunged 54 percent to $7 million, or 6 cents per share, in the January-March period from $15.2 million, or 14 cents, in the year-ago period. Revenue totaled $374.2 million, up 30 percent from $289 million the previous year.

The company's results came in well ahead of the average estimate for earnings of 3 cents per share and $366.2 million in sales from analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Passenger revenue surged 28 percent to reach $357.9 million for the period as overall traffic of 4.43 billion revenue passenger miles -- one passenger flown a mile -- improved 31.5 percent, the company said.

Last quarter, JetBlue expanded its total capacity by 22.5 percent, and planes were 85.8 percent full compared with 79.9 percent occupancy the year before. However, the amount JetBlue earned for each passenger mile, or yield, declined 2.7 percent to 8.07 cents.

Despite the upswing in passenger traffic, JetBlue's bottom line faced immense pressure from lofty aircraft fuel prices, which have plagued the industry over the past year and driven some carriers into deep financial troubles.

JetBlue spent $86.6 million on aircraft fuel last quarter, up 76 percent from $49.2 million spent a year ago. The average fuel cost swelled 42.6 percent to $1.31 per gallon, JetBlue said.

Still, Chairman and Chief Executive David Neeleman called JetBlue's quarterly performance strong and said that aside from fuel costs, "our operating margin actually improved slightly."

 

[8vATE]

Net income fell..



But JetBlue BEAT the estimates ...

Actually beat the earnings estimates by 100%..

est 3 cents.

actual 6 cents...



surprising how I haven't seen any of that in the headlines...

 

[9rj9]

smart money knows...

Whatever the real result was the stock gained over a $ 1.20 a share. The market likes it.

 

[C-21Pilot]

What is Jet Blue's fuel hedge situation? I keep hearing about SWA and AWAs fuel hedges, just wondering if anyone knows JBs current and future hedging.


Thanks
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