Malaysia Airlines today announced a net profit of RM610 million for the first nine months to September, in the best result of its 60-year history.

The national carrier, which embarked on a major turnaround plan in March last year, recorded the recovery after a net loss of RM258 million for the same period last year.

The result was the airline's "highest profit in its 60-year history," it said in a statement, crediting the figures to "strong passenger demand and sustained yield improvements."

The airline's last record was in 2004 when the carrier logged RM460 million in net profits for the full year.

"Even with the fourth quarter result still to be included, Malaysia Airlines has already surpassed the 2004 record," it said.

Revenue for the airline for the nine months increased 15 percent to RM11.14 billion while net profits for the three months to September were up 52 percent to RM364 million compared to last year.

It was the fifth consecutive quarter of net profits since the turnaround plan - which involved slashing routes and staffing levels - was introduced to stem heavy losses.

"For the year to date, we did show quite a big swing in our results," said chief financial officer Azmil Zahruddin.

"The main driver in the swing has been the increase in revenue, particularly in our passenger revenue and our ability to contain costs," he said.

Tougher times

However managing director Idris Jala warned of tougher times ahead amid high oil prices.

"The fourth quarter is seasonally the strongest and we are already experiencing very strong bookings," he said.

"However our performance will be dampened by the impact of higher oil prices like all other airlines."

Jala said he intends to offset high fuel prices by focusing on reducing operating costs and adopting fuel conservation measures.

"Life is going to be very tough ... but I have tremendous confidence going forward," he added.

He declined to give a profit target for next year.