UAL quarterly profit up to US$430 million ahead of merger

UAL CORPORATION, the holding company whose primary subsidiary is United Airlines, reported its first quarterly earnings since 2007 with a net profit of US$430 million for the second quarter, excluding non-cash, net mark-to-market hedge gains and certain accounting charges.

"We are pleased to report a significant net profit improvement in the quarter along with excellent operational results across the company," said Glenn Tilton, UAL Corporation chairman, president and CEO.

This marks an improvement of $751 million over the second quarter of 2009. The company reported a GAAP net profit of $273 million.

The carrier registered a 26.9 per cent year-on-year increase in consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) for the second quarter with double digit growth rates across all regions.

UAL generated operating cash flow of $874 million and free cash flow of $801 million in the second quarter, and closed the quarter with a total cash balance of $5.2 billion, including unrestricted cash of $4.9 billion.

This comes after United announced it has agreed to merge with Continental Airlines later this year to serve over 350 destinations worldwide. Integration planning is underway and the airline expects to close the transaction by year-end, a statement from UAL said.
(Source:www.schednet.com)