Jin Air swings to third-quarter operating profit as sales rise 35.7 percent

Jin Air said Friday it swung to an operating profit of 7.76 billion won ($5.79 million) in the third quarter from a loss a year earlier.

Revenue for the July-September period rose 35.7 percent from a year earlier to 413 billion won ($308 million), while operating profit reversed from a 22.5 billion won loss and net income swung to 31.2 billion won ($23.3 million) from a 27.5 billion won deficit.

The company attributed the improvement to trimming capacity on non-profitable routes, securing profitability on short-haul services to Japan and greater China, and cutting costs across the business.

The swing reversed a second-quarter loss, which the airline blamed on wider market volatility after conflict in the Middle East escalated in the spring and pushed up fuel costs and exchange rates.

Pretax profit from continuing operations reached 43.6 billion won in the third quarter, compared with a 34.5 billion won loss a year earlier.

For the second half, the carrier said it will focus on data-driven route management and an active response to external variables to secure competitiveness, improve its profit structure and enhance shareholder value, according to its regulatory filing.

Passenger transport accounted for 93.9 percent of total revenue at the end of June, with international routes at 78.8 percent and domestic routes at 15.1 percent, cargo at 1.3 percent and other businesses at 4.8 percent.