Turkish Airlines shares fly high after robust second quarter results

ISTANBUL

Shares in Turkish Airlines (THY) have soared after the airline posted a 398.2 million Turkish Lira net profit in the second quarter – 177 percent up from same period last year – due to passenger growth and currency rate exchanges.

According to a statement sent to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) in the late hours of Aug. 19, the company managed to raise its profit above expectations, which were around 260 million liras, with the help of increased income efficiency.

The company’s shares opened up more than 5 percent at around 6.75 liras in the early hours of Aug. 20, as investors gave thumbs up to the higher-than-expected second quarter outlook.

THY revenues in the period also rose to 6.14 billion liras from 4.61 billion a year earlier, which were better than the predicted forecasts of around 5.90 billion liras, the airline said.

While the company’s January to July period’s passenger number rose by 15.2 percent to become 31 million, the passenger occupancy rate remained almost flat, by declining by 0.3 percent to 78.9 percent.

İş Investment Aviation Analyst, Efe Kalkandelen, said the THY profits were above forecasts due to passenger growth and currency rate changes in the second quarter.

“Income efficiency rose by 6 percent compared to the same period from last year. We see [prices] have remained the same abroad in terms of the Euro, [however] we see an increase when we translate them to liras,” Kalkandelen said.