PIA attains profit of Rs1.67bn for first quarter of 2014
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KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has attained operating profit of Rs1.67 billion for the first quarter of 2014 – January 1 to March 31 – as against a loss of Rs5.65 billion of corresponding period last year.
The national flag carrier has attained the operating profit for the first quarter after a lapse of four years.
This was declared in the board of directors meeting, chaired by Secretary Aviation and Chairman PIA, Muhammad Ali Gardezi, held at the airline’s head office here on Tuesday. Managing Director PIA, Muhammad Junaid Younas was also present in the meeting.
According to the results of first quarter 2014, the total revenue stood at Rs28.0 billion as against Rs25 billion of 2013.
However, the net loss after paying financial costs and taxation stood at Rs1.98 billion as against Rs8.62 billion last year, which shows a remarkable decline of almost 77 per cent in losses. The loss per share has dropped from Rs2.86 to Rs0.56.
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been taking bold steps including privatisation to enhance the national flag carrier’s customer services, on time flight arrivals and departures with safety in order to make it a profitable entity.
The premier last week had also given his approval for induction of five new Boeing 777 jets into the fleet of Pakistan International Airlines.
The board appreciated performance of the national airline and efforts of Shujaat Azeem, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Aviation and Chairman PIA Gardezi for the revival of PIA.
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Comments (65) Closed
Apr 29, 2014 09:17pm
Good but more needed. Make PIA, PS and PR corporations. Hire professional CEO's. Remove perks for the EIlte. Everyone should pay to fly. No more free seats. This is the only way to revive the airlines.
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Apr 29, 2014 09:18pm
Is there need to privatize it ?
The higher authorities or persons who are willing to privatize it , i think have their own vested interest.
Please shore up the P.I.A not privatize it.........
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Apr 29, 2014 09:19pm
Finally...!
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Apr 29, 2014 09:20pm
surprise turnaround !! or just accounting gimmickery. I bet on the later rather.
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Apr 29, 2014 09:26pm
How did that happen???
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Apr 29, 2014 09:28pm
Something dodgy here. Suddenly when privatisation is imminent, it
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Apr 29, 2014 09:41pm
You cut your losses by 77 by simply improving your on time record and safety and within a quarter! Voila! This is how how you cook your books!! Take note the ailing corporations of the world: You need Shujaat Azeem and Gardezi to rescue you. And make sure the Prime minster of your country imposes few Boeing 777 on you as well.
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Apr 29, 2014 09:49pm
This shows there is no need to privatize.
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Apr 29, 2014 09:52pm
That's impressive especially most of the airliners these days have tough time making profits. Very well done.
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Apr 29, 2014 10:04pm
There's no excuse why an airline like PIA cant be like Turkish Air - which has become a global brand. Just from and to Pakistan -- and domestic-wise, volume is large. They just need to fire non-essential or non-performing staff and stop cronyism
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Apr 29, 2014 10:13pm
When there is will there is way. Well done N. Railway and PIA it is you. Zindabad
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Apr 29, 2014 10:14pm
If you have really attained so much profit, first thing you must do is to pay your light bill (Electricity Bill) then you should fix some old aircrafts that are sitting in hangers to be buried.
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Apr 29, 2014 10:18pm
It's not clear how this turnaround was achieved? Revenue increased by Rs 3 billion only while staff strength remains the same.
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Apr 29, 2014 10:20pm
That's a lie. I can't believe it. We know very well that PIA runs only on subsidies. A department that always runs on subsidies only, can never make profit. The idea behind this lie is nothing but to attract the private sector for its early privatisation.
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Apr 29, 2014 10:37pm
It's not profitable. Operating profits are not Net Profits. Net profits mean whether they on the whole were profitable. What I don't understand is what taxes are they paying if there is no profit? No government asks for taxes if the taxes will take you down to the negative as the taxes are only on a percentage of the net profits. The entity should always end up with a profit after the tax if it had a profit before the tax.
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Apr 29, 2014 10:44pm
PIA and profits OMG
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Apr 29, 2014 10:56pm
You can play with these figures, a crafty accountant can do it for you. Question remains, how many employees/aircraft , you really need compared to world's successful airlines ? How about political favours done to those who were recalled to join airline during Zardari's regime ?
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Apr 29, 2014 11:02pm
Good job, now keep on buying new planes. and educate customer service and airline staff more. and we will be better than others in few years..
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Apr 29, 2014 11:13pm
Surprise Good news but still privatize PIA. There is no role of Government to run airlines or cricket. Government make rules and that's it..
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Apr 29, 2014 11:19pm
PIA is up for privatization, the higher the profits, the higher the selling price. The profit is only in the cooked books.
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Apr 29, 2014 11:21pm
Anybody who believe that give me a call --- I have a bridge that I can sell you.
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Apr 29, 2014 11:27pm
All lies.
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Apr 29, 2014 11:28pm
Unbelievable, however well done and keep it up.
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Apr 29, 2014 11:55pm
Liar Liar
"However, the net loss after paying financial costs and taxation stood at Rs1.98 billion"
There is no profit, just bunch of BS.
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Apr 30, 2014 12:00am
A little check in NRO corruption is all what is needed. PIA have been more packed with people then any American, European or Middle East airline in high as well as low season.
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Apr 30, 2014 12:01am
Hopefully its not a cook book kind of stuff.......
PIA or no airline can go bankrupt, unless their administration want them bankrupt. obviously it is a serious mismanagement of PIA management (Government) that has brought PIA to the point of Bankruptcy.
Same is true for steel mills.
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Apr 30, 2014 12:03am
It's a time for action. Action speaks louder than words. I remember traveling in mid 70's with PIA from Karachi to Tripoli via Ankara. The flight attendants had sweet demeanor's and the food was deletable presented with quintessence hospitality of Pakistan. Please bring at least former glory. And on the top of that, candies were distributed. PIA was very peculiar than.
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Apr 30, 2014 12:07am
The clerk walks into the boss's office and says, "The auditors have just left, sir.""Have they finished checking the books?", asks the boss. "Very thoroughly," is the reply. "Well, what did they say", says the boss. "They want 15% to keep quiet."
Who got the 15%?
What an amazing story about cooking the numbers!
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Apr 30, 2014 12:09am
Well this is such an amazing and surprising news to hear. I wish if it continues in future for PIA and all other National departments of our belovedcountry
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Apr 30, 2014 12:12am
@Raja exactly
I totally agree with you but the point is isn't it amazing that PIA has atleast got a profit in EBIT for the first time after 4 years :P
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Apr 30, 2014 12:21am
Window Dressing by Ishaq Dar........
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Apr 30, 2014 12:32am
I am a Finance Professional and to understand the case of PIA you do need to be. PIA being mainly operated in Middle East only no big change in routes. Just recently Saudi Arabia asked for over dues and threaten not stop operation in KSA. No head rolled, same nepotism maintained................ turnaround like loss per share drop of Rs2.86 to Rs0.56. cannot be achieved overnight.
This may be another feather of lie in our cap (already full)
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Apr 30, 2014 12:33am
Yeah right, and we are suppose to believe this??
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Apr 30, 2014 12:35am
It does n't matters that PIA has gained the profit in this year but the fact which matters is that it should remain in a continuous process.
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Apr 30, 2014 12:36am
@Harmony If your theory is correct, perhaps we should consider privatizing the country :-)
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Apr 30, 2014 01:46am
To give credit where its due is a feat of a few. I think the work done in the past few months of PML N is showing in PIA, Railways and the speedy development of of new power projects. Thumbs up Pakistan we are headed in the right direction.
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Apr 30, 2014 01:50am
Too good to be true.
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Apr 30, 2014 01:55am
This simply sounds HOLLOW.
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Apr 30, 2014 02:22am
Well done Mohammad Junaid Younis and thank you for the effort. Lets hope that optimizing process will continue and the surplus staff will be disposed off to some other government entities where there is a need. I also hope that the management will work to improve safty standards and in flight services.
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Apr 30, 2014 02:30am
@Raja , Even if it is operating profit and not the net, there is a huge improvement. Net losses have fallen from 8,62 billion to 1,98 billion. About taxes, there are two possibilities (1) the reporter has just quoted the "net profit after taxes" figure which is a standard heading even if the tax paid is zero. or (2) In the corporate report some non deductable costs have been deducted to reach the net losses of 1,98 so the taxable income is still positive.
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Apr 30, 2014 04:02am
@Raja
Very true.
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Apr 30, 2014 04:26am
Most favorite air line among the Pakistanis though worse service. There is much more room for improvement in its structure.
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Apr 30, 2014 07:21am
PIA was the jewel in Pakistan's crown .. as a descendent of one of PIA's first founding innovators, I and my family will always give PIA the benefit of the doubt. IA, may it rise again as the stellar international airline it once was admired the world over.
A suggestion for PIA's management and board is to disallow relatives of employees or govt. officials to fly free. All the major foreign airlines have a "stand by rule" for immediate relatives of airline employees. If an empty seat is available just before the flight departs, only immediate family can use this perk - no advance reservations allowed. No govt. officials or any others can avail a free ride. All have to pay and govt. employees should pay on a sliding scale depending upon seniority.
One way for PIA to increase profits which Germany strictly enforces for its govt. employees around the world is that all Pakistani govt. employees - be they diplomats or otherwise should be required to fly ONLY PIA. This will increase the revenue base as well. It's shameful that Pakistani embassy employees around the world aren't flying PIA where available. This should have been a strictly enforced rule for such employees.
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Apr 30, 2014 08:56am
Clearly seems manipulation of accounts.
SECP should look into this matter.
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Apr 30, 2014 10:54am
I hope these institutions come to life now
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Apr 30, 2014 11:04am
this has resulted due to potential costing saving brought in by leased fuel efficient aircraft during 1st qtr and revenue increase to umrah performace. All logical.
the continuous propagation of bad image by media is causing people not to absorb this news so easily.
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Apr 30, 2014 11:16am
Better to have "false" profits with private funds than "real" losses with Pakistani tax-payers money. These false profits would also generate real taxes.
So let them fudge the PIA books to their hearts content. With privatisation we will also get rid of the free loaders, political and bureaucratic "sufarishis", and all-round incompetence.
The public sector in Pakistan is incapable of managing even a "Paan Shop" properly let alone an airliner.
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Apr 30, 2014 01:06pm
so will PIA not be taking PKR 125 bn in this budget? It's 50 bn more than what Navy will be get this year and 22 bn less then PAF.
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Apr 30, 2014 01:28pm
topi drama!!
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Apr 30, 2014 01:50pm
Well well well. What a turnaround (or is it cooking the books, for which we Pakistanis are famous for). I would love to find out what business school the CEO of PIA went to. Turning around a company that has been mostly making losses for many dacades is nothing short of a miracle. Perhaps he should teach at business schools around the world because making PIA profitable without any changes in policies, without training, wihtout half of its fleet, is just unbelievable. I would love to find out who really travels PIA and why on routes where poeple have other choices?.
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Apr 30, 2014 02:18pm
Big achievement over short time. Keep marching to make PIA an excellent airways.
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Apr 30, 2014 03:26pm
The news was a good one, but unfortunately it does not translate into an improvement of operations by PIA. The operating profit of PKR 1.67 billion is merely due to an exchange gain of PKR 5.6 billion during the quarter, thanks to the strengthening of the ruppee. Had it not been for the gain (which in the first place should not be part of the operating income, instead classified as non operating income) the operating loss would have been PKR 3.93 billion against the the loss of PKR 5.7 billion during the same period last year. This is a fairer comparison of the performance of PIA!!
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Apr 30, 2014 04:01pm
This only due to exchange gain of Rs. 5.6 million during current quarter. PIA has incurred gross loss of Rs. 102 million.
However, the performance is much improved as compare to last year.
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Apr 30, 2014 04:02pm
What a big lie, so many aircrafts grounded, flights cancellation still making profit. IT IS VERY BIG QUESTION
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Apr 30, 2014 04:40pm
Good to know that. Airlines like shaheen and Airblue can earn profit then why not PIA. Good work done by PML N
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Apr 30, 2014 04:59pm
Back up! A good start
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Apr 30, 2014 06:30pm
How much of this profit is due to accounting gimmicks?
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Apr 30, 2014 06:31pm
the above thread shows the level of passive thinking of our nation, instead of thinking positively everybody is giving his / her expert opinion on gimmicks of accounting or finance. Gentlemen it is not a matter of accounting or finance, PIA was a jewel some years back when all Middle Eastern Airlines took guidance from PIA and was known one of the best AL in the world. But the political appointments by PPP or by other parties destroyed it. Now if sincere efforts have been started by anyone whether by PMLN or by PPP or by PTI or by any dictator let them correct the corrupt system and turn the AL into profitable organization rather then putting mud or start abusing them. in the presence of vibrant and "dheet" Media it is not possible to do something fishy or wrong with national carrier therefore be optimistic and think POSITIVELY. It is not PTI who claimed change in 90 days and in KPK we are enjoying "inqulab" and many people from abroad started coming back to KPK as PTI brought "milk and honey canals" and per capita income raised to $ 50K......
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Apr 30, 2014 08:18pm
PIA has liabilities of more than Rs 250 billions.... Just to get rid of it, PIA needs to maintain at least this much amount of profitability for the next 150 Quarters or approximately 35 years!
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May 01, 2014 06:25am
A pilot shall never be given top managers place.present one was last in his course in pia.A national flag carrier of 200 million people is running in loss.So get rid of incompetent md, chairman & advisors.You need to bring professional Westerner as MD with hire & fire power . example of eithopian airlines is the recent one.
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May 01, 2014 07:01am
@Malikpur Janderbari Abbottabad
Think right not bright
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May 01, 2014 09:25am
@Malikpur Janderbari Abbottabad
This is not about passive thinking, this is based on PIA's performance and financial results.
Please do not hope and try to cure cancer with paracetamol.
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May 01, 2014 10:02am
@Ally Waqar Being hopeful is always better than being hopeless. Therefore, let us encourage the PIA managers for undertaking more beneficial steps to improve the PIA.
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May 02, 2014 12:12pm
@Raza raza brother, PIA 777s deal was signed in last tenure of previous govt. and like it or not, PIA fleets is becoming old fast not young. they need new planes before the old ones are totally useless. while you, in your liberalist bubble and airconditioned basement might not realize, PIA is more than an airline, it is a way of life and support system for hhundrreds of thousands of the families of its workers, and the reason air travel in Pakistan is accessible no thanks to private airlines. It is the only airline maintaining international standards in its trainings and procedures and the talented people in it make their days and nights one to ensure safe operation and get thanks in form of abuse from unthankful, privileged, spoiled persons who are out o their minds due to no alcohol, or journalists who are writing crap because they dont get freee tickets.
PLEASE - pray for PAKISTAN and PIA, pray for suceess
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May 02, 2014 12:13pm
@ALLY WAQAR despite claiming a financial expert, you cannot understand the aviation business if you are not in it. suggest you dont throw rocks as you are living in a glass house
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