All Nippon Airways Co. reported Thursday an unconsolidated pretax profit of 15.1 billion yen for the first half of fiscal 1999, down 36.1 percent from the same period last year.
Company officials also said unconsolidated net profit for the nation's No. 2 airline shrank 59.1 percent during the April-September period to 4.1 billion yen.
However, the airline's operating profit for the six-month period rose to 21.9 billion yen, compared with 6 billion yen last year, due mainly to reduced business costs, according to the officials.
Despite a 10 percent decline in international air fares, revenue from international passenger flights rose 6.4 percent from the same period last year.
The company attributed the rise in revenue to an increase in the number of flights connecting Japan with the United States, Germany and Australia during the period, they said.
Income from domestic passenger flights, however, decreased 2.9 percent from the previous year despite a 1.3 percent rise in the number of passengers. The decline was attributed to intensified competition in the domestic flight market, they said.
Sales at the company remained virtually flat for the period at 469.1 billion yen, ANA officials said.
The airline expects to post 12 billion yen in pretax losses and 24 billion yen in net losses for the full business year, which ends next March, because of a decline in sales and increased fuel prices, they added.