The 2015/16 year is proving to be financially beneficial for Virgin Australia, which saw its profits grow during the second quarter of the period.
The company said for three months from October to December its underlying profits before tax increased to $73 million – up 32.2 percent compared to the same period the prior year.
Statutory Profit After Tax also improved by around $49.6 million to reach $60.8 million.
The increase in profits came despite Virgin Australia experiencing a relatively flat period in terms of passenger revenue and load factor.
Domestic services made 1.3 percent less passenger revenues, while international dipped slightly by 3.5 percent.
Improvements to its budget airline, Tigerair, are paying off, with the low-cost carrier recording a 9.1 percent increase in revenue passengers compared to the same three months during the 2014/15 year.
“Our performance in the second quarter was underpinned by strong unit revenue and yield growth access the group.”
John Borghetti, Virgin Australia Group CEO
“Particularly in Virgin Australia Domestic, ongoing improvement in Tigerair Australia, strong momentum for Velocity and our continued strict cost discipline.
“Our international business has also continued to improve, despite the financial impact of volcanic activity in Bali.”
