Zacks Equity Research, On Monday April 25, 2011, 1:00 pm EDT
The largest U.S. airline United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL - News) reported first quarter 2011 adjusted loss of 41 cents per share outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4 cents. Adjusted earnings showed a substantial 29.3% increase from a loss of 58 cents in the year-ago quarter. Despite higher fuel prices and capacity cuts, earnings improved on increased fares and extra fees.
Adjusted earnings exclude $77 million of special items pertaining to merger-related costs and other one-time charges.
Revenue
Total revenue climbed 10.8% year over year to $8.2 billion in the reported quarter and was ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.195 billion driven by higher ticket prices and continued growth in ancillary revenue. On an annualized basis, Passenger, Cargo and Other revenues showed increases of 11.5%, 9.3% and 5.2%, respectively.
Airlines traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, dropped 1% year over year while capacity or available seat miles grew 1.4%. Traffic slowed slightly in the first quarter due to lower demand caused by the March 11 disaster in Japan. Load factor (percentage of seats filled with passengers) declined 200 basis points year over year to 78%.
