BANGKOK, 16 August 2013 Thai Airways International reports an operating loss of 8.4 billion baht for the first half of 2013 and its chance to miss this year’s profit target by 2 billion baht.
President and Chief Executive Officer of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited Sorajak Kasemsuwan stated that he had reported to the recent Thai Airways board meeting, that the company suffered a net loss of 156 million baht in the first half of 2013 due to impairment loss from a number of planes not in service recorded in the 2nd quarter of this year. The impairment loss was approximately 3.6 billion baht, which is substantially higher than the 2012 figure of 181 million baht. Furthermore, the baht appreciation in early 2013 caused Thai Airways to lose another 4.2 billion baht in foreign exchange and another loss of 2.9 billion baht from the increasing cost of aircraft maintenance and operations. In total, Thai Airways suffered a loss of 8.4 billion baht in the 2nd quarter of 2013.
Mr. Sorajak said, besides, that Thai Airways expected a smaller net profit from the overall operations in 2013 which was originally set at 6 billion baht. This year’s profit should stay around 4 billion baht. According to him, this year Thai Airways International has to shoulder the highest debt in the company’s history worth 180 billion baht due to the delivery of seven new aircraft.
