Citing 737 Max & Fuel Costs American Airlines Warns Expecting Weaker 2019 Profits
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — American Airlines Group Inc. on Friday reported weaker than expected revenue and a dim outlook, and its shares slid in premarket trading.
The company warned that the grounding of the 737 Max will lead to a $350 million hit to 2019 pretax profit. The airline has 24 of Boeing's 737 Max jets in its fleet.
American Airlines also said that higher fuel costs will cost $650 million more for the full year than it had forecast just three months ago.
The company posted first quarter earnings of $185 million. On a per-share basis, the Fort Worth-based company said it had net income of 41 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 52 cents per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 51 cents per share.
The world's largest airline posted revenue of $10.58 billion in the period, which did not meet Street forecasts. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $10.66 billion.
American Airlines now expects full-year earnings in the range of $4 to $6 per share.
American Airlines shares were down 3.6% in the premarket. The shares have risen 4% since the beginning of the year. The stock has dropped 26% in the last 12 months.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
