Kenya Airways Loss: Kenya Airways has posted a net loss of Sh. 7.55 billion for the full year ended December 2018. This loss represented an increase of 17.76 per cent.
In the financial full year 2017, the national carrier made a full year loss of Sh. 6.41 billion. This latest loss has dimmed hopes of the national airline becoming profitable in the near future. It also dents the on-going efforts that are aimed at helping the carrier recover.
During the financial year, the company’s revenue rose sharply by 41.32 percent largely driven by more passenger bookings to Sh. 114.18 billion from Sh. 80.7 billion a year earlier.
KQ’s total operating costs also jumped 43.96 percent to Sh. 114.8 billion from Sh. 79.7 billion in the previous financial year.
In a statement, the airline attributed the loss to volatile fuel prices, which saw its costs rise by 73.6 per cent from Sh19 billion incurred in the 9-month period in 2017 to Sh33 billion in the full year ended in December 2018.
“I would like to highlight some changes to our financial reporting. Following the Directors resolution in 2017 to change the Group’s year-end from March 31 to December 31, the 2018 financial statements cover a twelve-month period from January 1 to December 31, 2018, while the financial statements for 2017 cover a nine-month period from April 1 to December 2017,” said Michael Joseph, Chairman Kenya Airways.
“This, therefore, means that the 2018 results are not directly comparable with the 2017 results as it is a representation of 12 months against the 9 months in 2017,” he added.
The airline has embarked on various initiatives such as the network expansion through the introduction of new routes, revenue enhancement initiatives, senior management changes and improving customer experience aimed at boosting fortunes.
Following the steps, KQ’s revenue for the 12 months amounted Sh114.45 billion in 2018, as compared to Sh80.79 billion for the 9-month period ended December 31, last year.According to Michael Joseph, the growth in the total revenue was mainly boosted by growth in passenger revenue from Sh63.9 billion in the previous 9-month of 2017 to Sh88.7 billion December 31, 2018.