The chairperson of Malaysian Airline System Bhd said today the national carrier may return to profit earlier than expected due to an improved performance and based on the trend of its quarterly results.

"We've been able to contain the quantum of loss and we see that this trend will continue... (barring any) unexpected events, based on the present trend and the present conditions, Malaysia Airlines will certainly be in the black earlier than projected," Azizan Zainul Abidin said at a briefing after the company's annual general meeting.

Managing director Mohamad Nor Yusof, who was also present, said the carrier was however maintaining its official projections of a net profit of RM94.2 million for the year to March 2003.