United Airlines Expects Q3 PRASM To Decrease In Range Of 7.5%-5.5% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - United Airlines (UAL) announced it expects third-quarter Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile, or PRASM, to decrease in a range of 7.5%-5.5%. United Airlines expects the decline in third-quarter 2016 unit passenger revenue to be driven primarily by demand growth not keeping pace with capacity growth, declining close-in yields, lower surcharges, competitive actions and travel reductions in the energy sector. The company expects consolidated Capacity to increase in the range of 1.5%-2.5% year-over-year.

For fiscal 2016, the company expects consolidated Capacity to increase in a range of 1.0%-1.5%. For 2016, the company expects to pay approximately 9.4% of total adjusted earnings as profit sharing to employees for adjusted earnings up to a 6.9% adjusted pre-tax margin and approximately 14.5% for any adjusted earnings above that amount.

Second-quarter 2016 consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) decreased 6.6 percent and consolidated yield decreased 6.1 percent compared to the second quarter of 2015. For the second quarter of 2016, total revenue was $9.4 billion, a decrease of 5.2 percent year-over-year. Analysts expected revenue of $9.38 billion for the quarter.

Excluding special items, UAL reported second-quarter net income of $863 million, earnings per share of $2.61 per share and pre-tax earnings of $1.4 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $2.57 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items. Including special items, UAL reported second-quarter net income of $588 million, earnings per share of $1.78 and pre-tax earnings of $931 million.

UAL's Board has authorized an additional $2 billion share repurchase program. This amount represents approximately 13 percent of the company's market capitalization as of the closing stock price on July 18, 2016. During the second quarter of 2016, the company repurchased $694 million of its common stock, representing 4.4 percent of shares outstanding.