Air India losses narrow, but Singapore Airlines’ profit falls 44% as fuel costs rise

Singapore Airlines’ losses linked to Air India narrowed in the first half of the year, but the carrier’s overall net profit still fell nearly 44% as Middle East tensions pushed up jet fuel prices.

Singapore Airlines reported a net profit of S$134 million ($104.56 million) for the six months ended Wednesday, compared with S$239 million during the same period a year earlier. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected a lower profit of S$65.3 million.

The airline’s share of Air India’s losses fell to S$361.7 million from S$429.5 million a year earlier. Losses from other associates also narrowed, helping partly offset the impact of higher fuel expenses.

Singapore Airlines’ total costs rose more than 20% to S$10.73 billion. Fuel costs before hedging increased by more than 90%, with average jet fuel prices rising 86.7% year-on-year to US$171 per barrel.

The airline said its results were also affected by weaker performance in the first quarter.

Revenue for the first half rose 16.8% to S$11.30 billion from the year-earlier period.