SIA posts record profits, resumes dividend payments

Sydney, Australia - May 5, 2014: Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 aircraft at Sydney Airport.

The SIA Group posted record operating profits in the first half and second quarter of FY2022/23, as the demand for air travel surged after Singapore reopened in April.

The Group underwent proactive fundraising, talent retention, and resource deployment in preparation for the recovery of air travel, putting it in a strong position to capture the pent-up demand.

With strong support from many stakeholders, Singapore Airlines and Scoot were among the first carriers to launch flights and start sales to points served out of Singapore as the government took decisive action to reopen its borders to international travel, starting with the launch of the country’s Vaccinated Travel Lane arrangements in September 2021.

As a result, SIA and Scoot carried 11.4 million passengers during the six months to 30 September 2022, a 13-fold jump from a year before.

Passenger traffic and load factors were robust across all cabin classes and route regions, except in East Asia where border restrictions largely remained in place during the six months.

The group’s passenger capacity rose to an average of 68 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter of FY2022/23.

During the first half, passenger flown revenue rose $5,226 million (+694.0 per cent) year-on-year to $5,979 million. Traffic was 11-fold higher, significantly outpacing the capacity expansion of 118.7 per cent.

Consequently, passenger load factor rose 66.8 percentage points to 83.0 per cent.

Cargo flown revenue grew by $224 million (+11.9 per cent) to $2,099 million, supported by higher yields (+18.6 per cent), despite the decline in cargo loads (-5.6 per cent). As a result, Group revenue rose $5,589 million (+197.7 per cent) to $8,416 million.

Expenditure increased by $3,735 million (+108.4 per cent) year-on-year to $7,182 million, including a $1,886 million jump (+232.8 per cent) in net fuel cost, a $1,770 million increase (+65.2 per cent) in non-fuel expenditure, and the absence of the $79 million gain that was recorded last year for fair value changes on fuel derivatives.

Net fuel cost rose to $2,696 million, mainly on the 93 per cent increase in fuel prices (+$1,467 million) and higher volume uplifted (+$708 million), partially offset by higher fuel hedging gains
(-$365 million).

The increase in non-fuel expenditure was lower than the increase in passenger capacity.

The Group recorded an operating profit of $1,234 million, an improvement of $1,854 million from the $620 million loss a year before, with a first-half net profit of $927 million, versus a $837 million loss in the previous year (+$1,764 million).

This was due to the better operating performance (+$1,854 million), lower net finance charges (+$69 million) and improvement in share of results of joint venture and associated companies (+$46 million), partially offset by a tax expense versus a tax credit last year (-$267 million).

The Group recorded an operating cash surplus1 of $2,514 million for the first half, a year on-year improvement of $2,620 million.

Interim Dividend

The Company is declaring an interim dividend of 10 cents per share (tax-exempt, one-tier), amounting to $297 million, for the half-year ended 30 September 2022. The interim dividend will be paid on 22 December 2022 to shareholders as of 12 December 2022.

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FY2022/23 scoot sia SIA Group