Air New Zealand reports improved profits

Air New Zealand reports improved profits

New Zealand’s biggest airline Air New Zealand Ltd. has reported an improved profit figures. The company said that full-year profit rose 8.4 percent as it paid less tax. This also helped the company counter the ever rising costing of the fuel around the world. the net income of the airlines was NZ$180 million for the 12 months which ended on June 30.

This is an impressive improvement over NZ$166 million a year earlier. The airlines reported these figures to the New Zealand stock exchange. Air New Zealand also said that they would now be raising its surcharge on passenger fares for the fourth time since last May. This is to further control the damage to its bottom line from the fuel price hike. They also expressed fear that if the prices keeps on rising like this, they might suffer a 40% drop in earnings this year.

Chairman John Palmer said in a statement: “Times ahead will be tough. 2006 was always going to be a challenging year.” The carrier of which 82 percent owned by the New Zealand government will pay a 2.5 cents-a-share dividend on September 29.