Jeju Air Co., South Korea’s top budget carrier, said Tuesday that its net profit surged 47.3 percent on-year in 2015 as falling oil prices helped drive down costs. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – Jeju Air Co., South Korea’s top budget carrier, said Tuesday that its net profit surged 47.3 percent on-year in 2015 as falling oil prices helped drive down costs.
Net profit came to 47.2 billion won (US$38.8 million) last year, compared with 32 billion won tallied a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit also jumped 74.2 percent over the same period to 51.4 billion won, while sales expanded 19.1 percent to 608.1 billion won, said the company owned by Aekyung Industrial Co.
In particular, the ratio of operating profit to sales hit an all-time high of 8.5 percent.
The stellar performance was driven in part by the historically low crude oil prices that helped reduce overall operating costs, coupled with its increased in-flight sales and expanded flight services, the carrier said.
As it posted a strong net profit last year, Jeju Air plans to pay 400 won per share in dividends, which it said will cost the company around 10.4 billion won.
Jeju Air said that its fiscal health also improved significantly as its debt ratio dropped to 106.1 percent from 229.2 percent in the previous year thanks to an increase in cash it secured by going public in November.
Shares of Jeju Air closed up 2.19 percent at 32,600 won on the Seoul bourse.’
(Yonhap)
