April 23, 2009: China Southern Airlines has published its 2008 annual results, showing a loss of CNY4.8 billion.
The annual results show that in 2008, the operating income of China Southern Airlines Company Limited was 56,427 million, an increase of 1.17% compared with that of 2007; while the loss attributable to equity shareholders was CNY4,823 million.
According to the report, the rise in operating expenses due to the global financial crisis and the increased price of jet fuel were the major causes of the company´s loss.
Total operating expenses in 2008 amounted to CNY61,767 million, representing an increase of 16.6% over 2007. Flight operations expenses, which accounted for 56.6% of total operating expenses, increased by 20.3% to CNY34,982 million in 2008.
In addition, depreciation and amortization losses on property, plant and equipment also dragged down the performance of 2008. Depreciation on assets, which accounted for 3.1% of the total operating expenses, increased from CNY109 million in 2007 to CNY1,884 million in 2008.
