UA Q3 '14 Financials: $1.1bn profit, excluding special items
Oct 23, 2014, 5:53 am
#1
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UA Q3 '14 Financials: $1.1bn profit, excluding special items
http://ir.unitedcontinentalholdings....cle&ID=1980686
Guess they really did hit the numbers they were aiming for finally.
[Moderator Edit: this thread replaces the Q3 '14 Guidance thread.]
CHICAGO, Oct. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (UAL) today reported third-quarter 2014 net income of $1.1 billion, or $2.75 per diluted share, excluding $151 million of special items, its highest-ever quarterly profit and an increase of 99 percent year-over-year. Including special items, UAL reported third-quarter 2014 net income of $924 million, or $2.37 per diluted share.
- United's consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) increased 3.9 percent in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the third quarter of 2013.
- Third-quarter 2014 consolidated unit costs (CASM), excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing, increased 1.0 percent year-over-year on a consolidated capacity increase of 0.5 percent. Third-quarter 2014 CASM, including those items, decreased 4.0 percent year-over-year.
- UAL ended the third quarter with $6.9 billion in unrestricted liquidity.
- The company earned a 12.3 percent return on invested capital for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2014.
- United returned $220 million to shareholders as part of its previously announced $1 billion share buyback program.
[Moderator Edit: this thread replaces the Q3 '14 Guidance thread.]
Last edited by J.Edward; Oct 23, 2014 at 7:16 am
Oct 23, 2014, 5:57 am
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I did my bit to help out by giving them all those TODs during the course of the year to buy up those nice seats which would otherwise have remained empty!
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Last edited by Too much travel; Oct 23, 2014 at 8:15 pm
Oct 23, 2014, 6:01 am
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These are beating the crap out of DL numbers ... Of course now DL will claim everything is "specials" so you need to keep backing out and fudging to reach the metric that makes them look better
Oct 23, 2014, 7:04 am
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Here are the yield figures for United (first) and Delta (2nd)
Domestic 7.6% / 4.7%
Atlantic 5.4% / 3.3%
Pacific 1.8% / (1.3%)
Latam (2.1%) / (3.2%)
Intl 2.8% / N/A
Mainline 5.1% / 3.0%
Regional 0.1% / (0.3%)
Total 4.1% / 1.9%
Now the yield guys will say...oh wait, this time we need to look at prasm because Delta increased capacity. But even there UA posted stronger results.
And in Asia, where UA increased capacity faster than Delta (which actually is retrenching there...and will more with the 747 retirements) yield grew faster than Delta.
Reality is the low hanging fruit is gone for Delta. They run a nice operation, but as a stock story that one is less clear cut than in 2012.
Guess the wider variety of 1,500 P fares to Europe helped UA
I flew 2 of those with UA, 1 with Delta.
Domestic 7.6% / 4.7%
Atlantic 5.4% / 3.3%
Pacific 1.8% / (1.3%)
Latam (2.1%) / (3.2%)
Intl 2.8% / N/A
Mainline 5.1% / 3.0%
Regional 0.1% / (0.3%)
Total 4.1% / 1.9%
Now the yield guys will say...oh wait, this time we need to look at prasm because Delta increased capacity. But even there UA posted stronger results.
And in Asia, where UA increased capacity faster than Delta (which actually is retrenching there...and will more with the 747 retirements) yield grew faster than Delta.
Reality is the low hanging fruit is gone for Delta. They run a nice operation, but as a stock story that one is less clear cut than in 2012.
Guess the wider variety of 1,500 P fares to Europe helped UA
I flew 2 of those with UA, 1 with Delta.
Last edited by cerealmarketer; Oct 23, 2014 at 7:09 am
Oct 23, 2014, 7:12 am
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Oct 23, 2014, 7:15 am
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This is the point where DL will point to their "$1.6B profit" headline figure even though it excludes so many items it's close to meaningless when comparing across the industry
By common logic AA/US's results should be better than both UA and DL (fresh out of bankruptcy, integration/SOC pain not yet started, best FF program, stole all the HVF from UA etc etc etc). If not, the gravy train is already cancelled before it has reached the first stop.
By common logic AA/US's results should be better than both UA and DL (fresh out of bankruptcy, integration/SOC pain not yet started, best FF program, stole all the HVF from UA etc etc etc). If not, the gravy train is already cancelled before it has reached the first stop.
Oct 23, 2014, 7:22 am
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As someone who frequently questions UA's business direction, I think its hard to see anything but very positive numbers here. Good quarter all around. I'm really surprised with the comparison against DL. Q3 is typically such a good quarter for airlines, and it seems like DL actually faltered.
If UA can be consistent over the next 3-4 quarters, this is probably the turning point that investors point to. I think UA still needs to prove this is more than just a lucky quarter, and continued success over time will do that.
If UA can be consistent over the next 3-4 quarters, this is probably the turning point that investors point to. I think UA still needs to prove this is more than just a lucky quarter, and continued success over time will do that.
Oct 23, 2014, 7:26 am
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Those are growth numbers.
In absolutes UA shows 16.61 cpm for Q3 and 16.42 YTD. Delta claims 17.16/17.25.
In absolute PRASM UA reported 14.25 v DL's 14.83.
DL did have more ASMs and RPMs than UA in Q3 but still trails YTD.
UA's CASM in Q3 dropped from 14.94 to 14.34 including special items. DL's jumped to 15.69 from 13.97. Excluding pretty much everything (which is the way the airlines do it to get to truly comparable numbers) UA shows 9.2 v 9.11 while DL is 8.04 from 7.96 YoY.
In absolutes UA shows 16.61 cpm for Q3 and 16.42 YTD. Delta claims 17.16/17.25.
In absolute PRASM UA reported 14.25 v DL's 14.83.
DL did have more ASMs and RPMs than UA in Q3 but still trails YTD.
UA's CASM in Q3 dropped from 14.94 to 14.34 including special items. DL's jumped to 15.69 from 13.97. Excluding pretty much everything (which is the way the airlines do it to get to truly comparable numbers) UA shows 9.2 v 9.11 while DL is 8.04 from 7.96 YoY.
Last edited by sbm12; Oct 23, 2014 at 7:37 am
Oct 23, 2014, 7:26 am
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United Announces Third-Quarter 2014 Profit
UAL Reports $1.1 Billion Third-Quarter 2014 Profit Excluding Special Items; $924 Million Profit Including Special Items
I expect, given the size of DL's write-down for 747s, that they had a discussion with the auditors before things went to print. It seems to me that a write-down of 747s can, indeed, be a non-recurring charge. If United manages to retire all 747s without a special charge we can return to the topic.
These are good earnings by UA. DL, AA, WN, and ALK have announced good (by some measures, record) earnings, too.
Oct 23, 2014, 7:34 am
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Oct 23, 2014, 7:36 am
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DL's headline is Non-GAAP PRE-tax income, ex specials
UA goes from $1.1B to $924m true net income. AA is $1.2B to $942m. DL, on the other hand, goes from headline figure of $1.6B waaaaay down to slighly over $300m since apparently every one of their mistakes (like fleet strategy and fuel hedging screw ups) is a "special"
Oct 23, 2014, 7:41 am
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MTM accounting for fuel hedges is apparently a special for everyone. So is significant fleet changes. UA has taken similar charges in the past and likely will again in the future.