Cathay Pacific’s 2022 annual loss came in at HK$6.55 billion — that’s $834.4 million — exceeding both the previous year’s shortfall and the HK$4.4 billion analysts had forecast. By December, passenger capacity sat at roughly one-third of pre-Covid levels, with the network reaching 58 destinations versus 29 in January 2022.
Ronald Lam, the chief executive, pointed to heavy deficits at associated companies as the drag that wiped out second-half gains. He called the late-2022 improvement trend very encouraging, saying the airline had moved into a rebuilding phase after three punishing pandemic years. An earlier SCMP report on January 20 had flagged a potential net loss up to HK$7 billion, or US$894 million, a 27 per cent increase from 2021.
Passenger traffic last month surged 768.7 per cent year-on-year. With Hong Kong and mainland China lifting border restrictions and dropping quarantine rules, the carrier targets 70 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity by year-end 2023. Analysts now project a HK$3.9 billion profit for the current year. The conversion used: one US dollar equals 7.8498 Hong Kong dollars. Reuters correspondents Anne Marie Roantree and Donny Kwok reported the March 8 announcement.
Headcount was slashed during the crisis. The carrier grappled with cancelled flights, sealed borders, and strict quarantine rules for crew. By December 2022, the airline was operating at about a third of pre-pandemic passenger capacity. It ended the year flying to 58 destinations, double the 29 served in January 2022. The company said it was very encouraged to see a bright light at the end of the tunnel in the second half of 2022, and the positive momentum had continued into 2023. The reporting was by Anne Marie Roantree and Donny Kwok of Reuters, with editing by Stephen Coates.
In January, the airline had forecast a loss ranging from HK$6.4 billion to HK$7 billion, before the final figure was confirmed. Refinitiv data showed the consensus expected a loss of HK$4.4 billion. The views expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect Nasdaq, Inc. The pandemic years saw drastic headcount reductions as the carrier grappled with operational disruption. The March 8 results showed the second half of 2022 brought continuous improvement in operations and financial performance for the airline and its subsidiaries. Lam added that after three brutal years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company had finally entered a new exciting phase of rebuilding Cathay Pacific for Hong Kong.
Sources
- Cathay Pacific posts wider $834 mln loss in 2022, upbeat on outlook
- Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific warns of HK$7 billion in ballooning losses, aims to reach 70 per cent pre-pandemic capacity by year’s end | South China Morning Post
