Airports of Thailand posts Q4 loss on forex
Airports of Thailand posts Q4 loss on forex
BANGKOK: Airports of Thailand (AOT), the country’s main airport operator, reported yesterday a worse-than-expected fourth-quarter net loss, hit by foreign exchange losses and higher operating costs.
Majority state-owned AOT said it made a net loss of 750 million baht (US$22.6mil) in the July–September period, against a net profit of 191 million baht a year earlier. Three analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 653 million baht loss.
For its 2008/2009 financial year to Sept 30, AOT posted a net profit of 717.26 million baht, down over 90% from 7.32 billion baht a year earlier.
The figure was lower than the average profit forecast of 1.31 billion baht by eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Some analysts are optimistic about its prospects, expecting a revival in tourism to boost passengers and flights, with the bottom line also helped in the next quarter by the end of a campaign to support traffic by waiving landing and parking fees for airlines.
AOT operates the country’s six main airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang in Bangkok, Hat Yai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket, which handle around 90% of air traffic in the country
