Cathay Pacific 2019 profit dropped 28% and it warns of more losses as coronavirus bites
On Wednesday, Hong Kong’s flagship airline posted a 28% plunge in profit in 2019 compared to the previous year, dropping from about 2.3 billion Hong Kong dollars ($301.8 million) in 2018 to almost 1.7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($217.7 million).
The company now says that more reductions are expected in May as it continues to monitor demand.
“The first half of 2020 was expected to be extremely challenging financially,” chairman Patrick Healy said in a statement. “We expect to incur a substantial loss for the first half of 2020.”
Cathay stock was up 2.7% in Hong Kong Wednesday afternoon. The airline’s shares have dropped 12.7% so far this year.