El Al reported last week its Q3 results, which happened to be its strongest quarterly results in history,despite higher fuel prices.
El Al posted a $52.2 million net profit, or 11 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with $47.4 million, or 10 cents per share, in the third quarter of last year (10% increase in net profit), and its revenue increased 17% to $485.2 million.( the third quarter rose 10 percent to $52.2m.).
Cargo operation however experienced a drop of 2% of tonnage flown in and 10% drop in tonnage flown out. According to the report in the first nine months El Al flew 95,000 tons compared to 97,000 tons in the parallel.
El Al reportedthat Fuel prices rose 43% in the third quarter comparedwith the corresponding quarter last year.Fuel costs totaled $52 million, including $50 million for jet fuel, however the airline managed to slash in half the higher cost of jet fuel through hedging transactions, which brought the carrier $23 million.
El Al’s cash flow from operations dropped from $105 million in the third quarter of last year to $56 million in the third quarter of this yearmainly due to changes in credit terms by its jet fuel suppliers.
El Al CEO Haim Romano said incoming tourism was one of the driving forces behind El Al's growth.
The company also reported that its number of passengers had increased.Occupancy rate also increased by 3% to 83%.
