AC:CC - Air Canada posts wider than expected loss touts strong ticket sales

Air Canada ( OTCQX:ACDVF ) posted a far larger than anticipated loss for the fourth quarter as travel demand trended above pre-pandemic levels.

For the fourth quarter, the Canadian carrier posted a C$0.61 loss, outpacing the C$0.29 consensus estimate. Meanwhile, a 71.4% jump in revenue year over year to C$4.68B came in above the C$4.5B. Quarterly ticket sales were 102% of the levels seen in Q4 2019, according to CEO Michael Rosseau.

“We reported record fourth quarter passenger and operating revenues, surpassing our results from a year ago and those of the fourth quarter of 2019,” he said. “This was due to solid demand and yield environments across our network.”

That said, management noted that operating expenses of $4.71B for the quarter reflected a $1.47B year over year increase. Available seat miles reached 85% of pre-pandemic levels in the quarter.

Moving forward, capacity is expected to increase about 24% for the full-year 2023 as compared to 2022, reflecting 90% of 2019 available seat miles. The Montreal-based carrier projected adjusted EBITDA of about C$2.5B to C$3.0B for 2023 as costs per available seat mile remain 13% to 15% above pre-pandemic norms. For 2024, management expects available seat miles to match 2019 levels and adjusted EBITDA to range from C$3.5B to C$4.0B. CASM are anticipated to come down from 2023 to about 8% to 10% above 2019 levels.

Read more on the details of the results .

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