ANA Holdings Inc. said group net profit jumped nearly eight-fold from April to June to ¥51.07 billion ($461 million), boosted by strong demand for both domestic and international flights and the addition of Peach Aviation Ltd.
ANA, the parent of All Nippon Airways Co., said Wednesday that group operating profit rose to a record ¥25.44 billion, up 80 percent from the previous year, on record sales of ¥451.72 billion, up 11.7 percent.
In February, ANA made affiliated budget carrier Peach Aviation a subsidiary by raising its stake. For the quarter, ANA booked a special profit of ¥33.80 billion through Peach's profits.
ANA maintained its full-year earnings outlook through next March, projecting ¥125 billion in group net profit, up 26.5 percent from a year earlier.
It expects a ¥150 billion operating profit, up 3.1 percent, because revenue is forecast to rise 8.2 percent to ¥1.91 trillion.
"We were able to get off to a good start. But it's too early to talk about (raising) the full-year outlook as our profits are affected the most during the summer," ANA Holdings executive officer Ichiro Fukuzawa said at a news conference, adding ANA will continue to closely watch how profits shift in the second quarter and beyond.
Demand for domestic air travel recovered after travelers to Kyushu and its surroundings fell the previous year in the wake of deadly earthquakes in Kumamoto and Oita prefectures last April.
Domestic passengers rose 5.8 percent from the year before to 10.35 million, while revenue 2.7 percent to ¥154.6 billion.
International passengers climbed 5.4 percent to 2.25 million, sending sales 13.1 percent higher to ¥139.4 billion, reflecting a recovery from the terrorist attacks in Europe last year.