Stocks in airline sector are regaining investors' confidence as crude prices continue to decline. Aviation shares like SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Interglobe Aviation increased 3% to 6% on Wednesday trading session as investors expect robust earnings growth in the March quarter. Airline companies are anticipated to report strong profits in the fourth quarter helped by poor fuel prices and increase in passenger traffic.
According to Mayur Milak, analysts of aviation sector at Anand Rathi Research, if crude prices float at $40 to $50 per barrel, then aviation sector will lure more investors. He noted that valuations of these aviation firms are gorgeous and picked SpiceJet and Indigo as top stocks. The airline industry has been the principal gainer of the poor energy prices that accounts for nearly 50% of their functional expenses. In 2015, when the oil industry was stunned by consistent fall in prices these aviation stocks rocked the market with high share prices, THE ECONOMIC TIMES said.
But, during the period between February 9, 2016 and March 22, 2016, when the oil sector rebound from its historical fall with oil crude prices reaching its peak at $49.89 a barrel Spice Jet lost 18.91% and Jet Airways dropped 6.4%, while Interglobe Aviation was the only gainer to rise 6.9%. Pankaj Pandey, chief of ICICIdirect.com's research department, said that the output freeze, which was anticipated to seal oversupply, has not taken place. In addition, the slump in prices of aviation turbine fuel and rise in passenger traffic are expected to aid aviation firms to report robust quarterly profits.
Meanwhile, passenger traffic in the global airline sector increased 6.8% in 2015, with a faster growth in the Middle East region. The US airlines occupied the top three positions in the ranking by revenue passenger kilometre, with American Airlines Group ranking number 1, according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The ICAO also said that the world's number one busiest airport is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, tailed by Beijing Capital International Airport and Dubois International Airport occupying the third place. Load factor across the global aviation industry reached a 10-year peak of 80.2% in the previous year, with North America registering the biggest load factor at nearly 83.5%. However, global freight traffic marked a slower growth in 2015, highlighting the fading growth in world trade. The global cargo traffic rose 2.2% in 2015, compared to an increase of 4.9% in 2014, as reported by AL ARABIYA.
Malaysia Airlines reported its first monthly profit in February and it is in line to get back into the dark within 2018, abcNEWS quoted chief executive officer Christoph Mueller in an interview with Associated Press. According to Mueller, the carrier is like a "ship that has many leaks," however, weak oil prices helped the airline to report a profit in February.
The aviation industry is helped by weak oil prices despite the global economic crisis. The sector is enjoying amid the sluggish oil economy.
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