Regional Express Holdings Limited has revealed a statutory profit after tax of $14.4 million for the year ending 30 June 2023.
Following a $46.1 million loss in the year prior, the result represents a turnaround of over $60 million for Rex.
Compared to a loss of $109 million in FY22, Rex’s operational loss before tax for FY23 was $31.7 million. But the carrier earned a profit on the back of $44.5 million contribution from its 50 per cent acquisition of National Jet Express (NJE) in September 2022.
Rex Executive Chairman, Lim Kim Hai said, “The legacy effects of COVID continued to smash the aviation industry in FY23 manifesting itself in acute pilot shortages and severe dislocation of the supply chain”.
“Looking ahead in this FY, the prospects seem much brighter across the Group: the delivery of the eighth and ninth 737-800NG aircraft in Q1 FY24 will bolster our domestic expansion plans and revenue. A tenth aircraft is envisaged in the later part of the FY.”
Lim Kim Hai said that Rex subsidiary Pel-Air expects revenue to grow in the FY due to contracts with NSW Ambulance and Ambulance Victoria.
Rex also anticipates expansion opportunities for NJE from resource companies in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland as it enters the Qld market.
Meanwhile, Rex expects to enrol 40 Rex cadets and 200 international cadets from China, Singapore and Vietnam into its two pilot academies before the end of the FY24. Rex enrolled 60 cadets in August alone.
The largest independent regional and domestic Australian airline, Rex operates a fleet of 58 Saab 340 and eight Boeing 737-800NG aircraft to 57 destinations across every state and territory in Australia.
In August, Rex announced it would operate daily, full-service flights between Melbourne and Hobart, making the Tasmanian capital the fourth destination for the airline in the state.
Earlier in the year, the carrier introduced daily flights between Adelaide and Sydney.
