Malaysian Airline System Bhd today said net profit fell 30.4 percent on the year to RM230.08 million in the third quarter due to the absence of an exceptional gain from a revamp exercise last year.

Its previous result for the three months to December had included a RM229.39 million gain from the implementation of its restructuring exercise.

Compared with the second quarter, the third quarter's results reflected a continued recovery from the impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak in the region, it said.

Third quarter net profit improved from the second quarter's RM101.1 million, mainly due to a RM91.5 million gain from the sale of a 70 percent stake in its wholly-owned unit MAS Catering Sdn Bhd.

Going forward, the national carrier said it is expecting a better performance in 2004 and 2005, barring a resurgence of Sars and an escalation of the bird flu outbreak, and the carrier is likely to benefit from faster economic growth in Asia and increasing traffic demand.

Competitors

It added traffic demand showed continued recovery in the third quarter, helped by global economic improvement, particularly in the United States, Japan and Europe.

"The competitive environment for 2004 will remain intense following new services being mounted by our competitors," the airline said.

"For the summer of 2004 and 2005, Malaysia Airlines' network strategy is aimed at maximizing our opportunities in Asia. In this regard, four additional A330 aircraft will be leased and additional capacity will be deployed into the Asian region.

"Increased capacity is planned for China, India, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam," it said.

It added the positive global economic outlook also bodes well for the cargo operations.

The carrier said it had substantially improved its third quarter to December operating profit to RM146.34 million from RM51.95 million a year earlier on improving traffic demand. - AFP