SIA shares tumble 6.8% after first-quarter profit slide
SIA results were hit by its share of losses from associate Air India, although the Singapore business did well.
SINGAPORE - Shares of Singapore Airlines slumped in morning trading on July 29, as the market reacted to the announcement of the airline group's 59 per cent drop in first-quarter earnings.
The carrier's shares fell as much as 8.6 per cent, or 65 cents, to $6.95 minutes after the opening bell.
The stock pared losses to trade at $7.08, down 6.8 per cent or 52 cents, as at the midday trading break. A heavy 23.7 million shares changed hands.
SIA said after trading hours on July 28 that
net profit slid to $186 million for six months to June , down from $452 million in the corresponding period a year ago.
This was due to lower interest income and the share of losses of associates, SIA said.
Air India, in which SIA holds a 25.1 per cent stake, accounted for the bulk of losses from associates. SIA only started accounting for its share of Air India's results from December 2024 following the
full integration of Vistara into Air India.
CGS International analyst Raymond Yap noted that SIA underperformed due to the sizeable share of Air India's losses in the quarter, although the Singapore business did well.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Asia Thirty dead, over 80,000 evacuated, following heavy rain in Beijing
Asia Thai army accuses Cambodia of violating truce
Singapore NDP 2025: Enhanced security measures to be put in place around the Padang
World Trump says many are starving in Gaza, vows to set up food centres
Sport World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro among list of top names for Singapore football coach
Business Crypto's comeback: Should Bitcoin and other digital assets be in your portfolio now?
Business BYD tops Singapore car sales in first half of 2025 with almost one-fifth of the market
Singapore ST Explains: What we know about the Tanjong Katong sinkhole so far
He added that SIA's Singapore passenger and cargo businesses continued to perform, with higher operating profit that was also supported by lower fuel costs and the depreciation of the US dollar.
Looking ahead, SIA might continue to be affected by a weak financial performance from the Indian carrier, in light of the cuts made to its flights after the
fatal crash
of Air India flight 171
in June, he said.
An investigation into the fatal crash of Air India flight 171 in June is ongoing and the fallout is likely to continue to weigh on Singapore Air's performance. The Indian carrier cut capacity in the short-term to deal with operational challenges in the aftermath of the disaster.
JPMorgan Securities Asia Pacific's Karen Li said SIA's results will likely be deemed a major miss and downgraded the stock to neutral with a price target of $7.
However, Morgan Stanley's Divya Gangahar Kothiyal told Bloomberg News that SIA's passenger yields may soon start stabilising, helping to ease competitive sales pressures.
SIA and Scoot carried a record 10.3 million passengers, up 6.9 per cent from the same quarter in 2024.
But passenger yields – the amount earned per passenger for each kilometre flown – slipped 2.9 per cent to 10 cents per revenue passenger-kilometre. This was due to heightened competition, as more airlines continue to add capacity, SIA said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
12 minutes ago
- Straits Times
China sees gaps in US defences, ousted national security official says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox General Timothy D. Haugh said there were weaknesses in American cyberdefences that the Chinese government was trying to exploit. WASHINGTON – China is taking advantage of gaps in American defences, as its cyberprogramme poses a core challenge to the United States, the former director of the National Security Agency said in an interview. General Timothy D. Haugh, the former head of both the NSA and US Cyber Command, said there were weaknesses in American cyberdefences that the Chinese government was trying to exploit. While cybersecurity and cloud computing firms are trying to improve their defences, China is constantly looking for vulnerabilities, areas that neither kinds of firms are focusing enough of their attention on. China, Mr Haugh said, is trying to exploit the 'seams' in the defences. He was forced out of his positions in April after Ms Laura Loomer, a right-wing conspiracy theorist and adviser to President Donald Trump, accused Mr Haugh – without evidence – of disloyalty. In a social media post, Ms Loomer said Mr Haugh had been chosen by General Mark Milley, the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was critical of Mr Trump and whom she called a traitor. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers lamented Mr Haugh's dismissal. Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Mr Haugh's firing made the country less safe. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Republican leader, said he 'couldn't figure out' what the Trump administration wanted in its senior national security figures. In his first interview since being fired, Mr Haugh seemed reluctant to talk in detail about his dismissal, saying only that he had served at the pleasure of Trump. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business No clarity yet on baseline or pharmaceutical tariffs with US: DPM Gan Singapore Grace Fu apologises for Tanjong Katong sinkhole, says road may stay closed for a few more days Asia Fragile Thailand-Cambodia truce faces challenges on day one Opinion Nobel Prize? Maybe not, but give Asean credit for Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire Singapore Facts and myths intersect at the National Museum's new glass rotunda installation Singapore Liquidators score victory to recoup over $900 million from alleged scammer Ng Yu Zhi's associates Multimedia Making a splash: Picture-perfect moments from the World Aquatics Championships in S'pore Singapore Terrorism threat in Singapore remains high, driven by events like Israeli-Palestinian conflict: ISD 'I don't and did not expect an explanation, and from the second I was told I was no longer serving in the role, the focus shifts to the leaders the president has put in the capacity,' he said. Mr Haugh did not appear to be dwelling on his lost jobs, but instead focused on new ways to work against the same threats he had been trying to counter while in government, in particular China's cyberoperations. China's priorities, he said, are collecting intelligence, stealing intellectual property from American institutions and companies, and positioning for a possible attack. In recent years China has mounted two major cyberoperations: Volt Typhoon, which positioned malware to attack critical infrastructure in the event of a possible conflict with the United States, and Salt Typhoon, an ambitious effort to hack US telecom networks, allowing Chinese intelligence to listen to calls from prominent Americans. 'This is a bipartisan issue: cybersecurity and the security of our nation,' Mr Haugh said. Artificial intelligence, he added, can make the threat worse but can also help generate new ways to defend against attacks. Mr Haugh is set to teach a class at Yale University in the fall, and Ballistic Ventures, a company that funds and advises cybersecurity startups, announced July 29 that he would join the firm as a strategic adviser. 'For me, two of the things I think I can be impactful with, is how do you inspire people to public service and how do we think about implementing new technologies in ways that more secure as a nation,' he said. Mr Glenn Gerstell, a former general counsel for the National Security Agency, said China's threat was still not well understood, despite breaches like Salt Typhoon and Volt Typhoon. 'The way China approaches cyberoffense is so wildly different from the way we do, with massive investments in personnel, with massive amounts of money and compute power,' he said. 'Americans, including policymakers, don't understand that the threat is overwhelming and pervasive.' Cyberweapons and their effects can often be invisible and hard to understand. The US government, Mr Gerstell said, could better explain what it knows about China's offensive capabilities, to draw the public's attention to the challenges. 'If it caused us to focus more on the threat, the trade-off could well be worth it,' he said. Mr Haugh said he hoped that in his two new roles he could bring new attention, research and focus to the threat from China. He noted that in the annual threat assessment, the intelligence community warned of how artificial intelligence could help power efforts by adversarial countries to mount malign influence campaigns. Ballistic Ventures, he said, was helping work on a range of challenges, including identifying 'synthetic media' – propaganda pushed by Russia, China or firms they hire. 'This is one of the areas that I am excited to dive into – how do you identify synthetic media, how do you ensure that we understand the source of what we are looking at,' he said. 'There's work for industry to do.' NYTIMES
Straits Times
12 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Boeing's quarterly loss shrinks as jet deliveries rebound, but shares drop
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Boeing still reported a second-quarter loss of US$612 million, but that was a big improvement over the US$1.4 billion loss a year ago. SEATTLE - Boeing's quarterly loss more than halved and was much smaller than analysts expected as the US planemaker ramped up jet deliveries, recovering from a regulatory crisis and a major strike that halted most production in 2024. The results highlighted Boeing's efforts to cautiously increase monthly output in 2025, following years of quality issues and production delays on its flagship 737 MAX. However, Boeing shares closed down 4.4 per cent on July 29, after its results announcement. The drop was 'surprising' and unwarranted based on the quarterly results, Barclays Capital aerospace analyst David Strauss said in a note to investors. The company's financial improvements were tempered by its announcement that certification of the 737 MAX 7 and 10 models will not happen until 2026, another setback for those programmes. The company previously said it expected to finish certification by the end of this year. The company is still developing solutions to address problems with the 737 MAX models' engine de-icing systems that are stalling certification, which is proving a 'little more tricky' than anticipated, Boeing chief executive officer Kelly Ortberg told CNBC. During the interview, he praised US President Donald Trump's aggressive use of tariffs to hammer out trade deals. 'I like the way this tariff situation is playing out,' Mr Ortberg told CNBC. 'It's good for our business, is good for aerospace,' and will create jobs in the United States. The United States and European Union agreed to exempt aircraft and aviation parts from tariffs. However, raw materials such as steel and aluminum remain subject to steep duties. Boeing still reported a loss of US$612 million (S$788 million) in the quarter, but that was a substantial improvement over the US$1.4 billion loss during the same period a year ago. Mr Ortberg joined the company in August 2024 as it sought to recover from its latest crisis, caused by a poorly installed panel that blew off a Boeing 737 Max jet during a flight early last year. No one was killed, but the episode resurfaced widespread concerns about Boeing's planes five years after two fatal crashes involving the Max. The new CEO ordered changes aimed at improving quality and safety. And the company has steadily increased production and deliveries of its passenger planes since. Boeing delivered 280 commercial jets in the first half of this year, the most in the first six months of any year since 2018, before the fatal Max crashes. Boeing has also increased production of the Max to 38 planes per month, a ceiling the Federal Aviation Administration imposed after the panel blowout. Mr Ortberg said the company was planning to ask the FAA for permission to increase production to 42 Max jets a month when internal quality metrics indicated that it was safe to do so. The company has also increased production of the 787 Dreamliner, a larger, twin-aisle plane, to seven jets per month. New orders for the company's planes have improved, too, with more than 420 commercial jets ordered in the second quarter. That was its best quarterly sales since late 2023. Those orders may have been boosted by trade deals struck by Mr Trump, several of which included commitments from other countries to buy Boeing planes, though experts said that many such orders might have been placed anyway. REUTERS, NYTIMES
Straits Times
42 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Trump mounts new attack against wind projects on federal land
The Trump administration is considering halting all wind development on federal lands and waters. The Trump administration is considering halting all wind development on federal lands and in federal waters as the president expands his campaign against the renewable energy source he's long criticised . Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on July 29 ordered a comprehensive review of the agency's approval process for wind projects, including right-of-way authorisations, environmental analysis and wildlife permits. The order, which Mr Burgum said aims to end preferential treatment for wind and solar, is sure to further spook renewables investors and developers already reeling from the administration's attack on clean energy. President Donald Trump, who was in Scotland on July 29 to open a second golf course at his sprawling estate in the eastern part of the country, criticised the UK's support for wind power and decried turbines as overly expensive eyesores. 'Windmills are a disgrace,' he said earlier in the day. 'They hurt everything they touch. They're ugly. They're very inefficient. It's the most expensive form of energy there is.' Mr Trump, who fought against a wind project within view of his first golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland, indefinitely halted the sale of new offshore wind leases on his first day in office and paused permitting of all wind projects on federal lands and waters. More recently, the Interior Department ordered that all solar and wind projects on federal lands required Burgum's sign-off, a move that threatens to mire their approval process in red tape. In April, Mr Burgum halted work on Equinor ASA's US$5 billion (S$6.44 billion) Empire Wind farm off the coast of New York, but then reversed the decision in May after the administration reached a deal with New York Governor Kathy Hochul to open the way for new gas pipelines to be built in the state. Mr Torgrim Reitan, Equinor's chief financial officer, said in an interview in June that further investments in US offshore wind are likely off the table. BLOOMBERG
