China Southern said late Monday it will consider breaking away from a decade-old policy of not hedging for fuel to revive earnings as nimbler and private low-fare carriers raise competition in China, where three-government owned airlines have dominated the market. A weaker yuan following the surprise devaluation in August 2015 cost the Guangzhou-based carrier RMB 1.5 billion in currency losses, a 10-fold surge.
Net income at China Southern fell 10.6% in the six months to June to RMB 3.12 billion from RMB 3.48 billion a year earlier, the airline said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange late Monday.
Billionaire Chen Feng’s Hainan Airlines Co., the country’s fourth-largest carrier reported a 4.4% gain in first-half profit to RMB 1.67 billion, while Spring Airlines Co., the nation’s largest budget airline, said net income climbed to RMB 740 million.
Shares of China Southern fell 7.7% to HK$4.65 as of 9:51 a.m. in Hong Kong, poised for the biggest loss in almost eight months. Spring Air slipped 1.1% to RMB 47.49 in Shanghai, while Hainan dropped 1.2% to RMB 3.37.
Chinese carriers, which usually don’t hedge jet fuel prices, are among the handful of airlines around the world to benefit the most from a slump in fuel prices. Fuel costs fell 23% to RMB 10.3 billion during the first six month, China Southern said.
China Southern’s yield -- money earned from carrying a passenger per kilometer and a key measure of an airline’s profitability -- fell 7.5% in the first half as it aggressively expanded its international services. Yield on overseas flights fell 11%.
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