United Airlines (UAL) Q4 Earnings Beat, Q1 EPS View Upbeat
Zacks Investment Research | Jan 22, 2020 06:49AM ET
United Airlines Holdings Inc’s (NASDAQ:UAL) fourth-quarter 2019 earnings (excluding 14 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.67 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.64. Moreover, the bottom line improved 10.8% year over year, mainly on lower fuel costs.
Operating revenues of $10,888 million increased 3.8% year over year and also marginally beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10,886.2 million. Higher passenger revenues drove the top line.
Passenger revenues, accounting for bulk (91.2%) of the top line, rose 3.9% year over year. However, cargo revenues representing 2.9% of the top line declined 5.4%. Revenues from other sources contributed to the remainder.
Operating Results
Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM: a key measure of unit revenues) inched up 0.8% year over year to 13.98 cents. Total revenue per available seat mile increased 0.7% year over year to 15.33 cents. On a consolidated basis, average yield per revenue passenger mile ascended 1% from the year-ago quarter.
During the quarter under review, consolidated airline traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, climbed 2.9% year over year. Capacity (or available seat miles) also expanded 3.1%. Consolidated load factor (percentage of seat occupancy) deteriorated 20 basis points to 82.5% as capacity expansion outweighed traffic growth. Meanwhile, average fuel price per gallon (on a consolidated basis) decreased 8.7% year over year to $2.1.
Total adjusted operating expenses increased 5.9% year over year to $7,477 million in the reported quarter. Consolidated unit cost or cost per available seat mile (CASM) excluding fuel, third-party business expenses, profit sharing and special charges was up 2.7% year over year. However, total unit costs slipped 1.3% year over year.
United Airlines exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $2,762 million compared with $1,694 million at 2018 end. Long-term debt at the end of the reported quarter was $13,145 million compared with $12,215 million at December 2018 end. Furthermore, the carrier bought back shares worth $216 million in the October-December period at an average price of $88.95 per share. During 2019 it repurchased shares worth $1.6 billion.
United Airlines Holdings Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
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