graphic
graphic  
graphic
News > Companies  
graphic
Continental warns on 2Q
Carrier sees difficulty returning to profitability due to weak fares and higher fuel prices.
April 2, 2002: 8:20 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Continental Airlines said it expects to post a significant first-quarter loss and warned that its expected return to profitability in the second quarter will be challenging.

Houston-based Continental, the nation's fifth-largest airline, did not give specific earnings or loss per share guidance for either period. But it said it is concerned with continued low fares, measured by revenue per mile flown by each available seat, as well as upward pressure on prices for fuel, which traditionally is an airline's second-largest cost after labor.

graphic
graphic graphic
graphic
The airline said it managed to report a profit in March as miles traveled by paying passengers on Continental fell 5.4 percent from a year ago to 5.4 billion, but the airline's capacity decreased 10.4 percent. That resulted in a higher percentage of seats being filled. But despite fuller planes the revenue per available seat mile, known as RASM, was off 6 to 8 percent from a year earlier and off 11 percent from February.

"We are pleased that we achieved profitability in March but we continue to be concerned about higher fuel prices and RASM weakness due to capacity increases by many of our competitors," Chief Financial Officer Jeff Misner said.

Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had a consensus forecast of a loss of $2.07 a share in the first quarter, compared with a profit of 16 cents a share a year earlier, and a profit of 41 cents a share in the second quarter, down from 74 cents a year earlier. Continental is the only airline among the nation's six largest carriers that had been expected to make money in the second quarter.

Shares of Continental (CAL: Research, Estimates) lost 67 cents to $27.65 Monday before its statement.  Top of page






graphic

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.