Japan Airlines reports $2.33 billion annual net profit

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan Airlines (JAL), which went bankrupt two years ago in one of the country's biggest-ever corporate failures, on Monday, May 14, logged an annual net profit of $2.33 billion, thanks to cost-cutting efforts, AFP reported.

The carrier said net profit for the year through March was 186.6 billion yen on sales of 1.2 trillion yen, as a strong yen saw more Japanese people travel overseas, although demand was hit by last year's quake-tsunami disaster.

The carrier, which had forecast a 160 billion yen net profit, also said it posted a record operating profit of 205 billion yen in the period.

Despite last year's natural disasters and record flooding in Thailand, the carrier said it managed to avoid losses by cutting back on its flight schedule.

After filing for bankruptcy in 2010 JAL underwent an aggressive cost-cutting plan, led by charismatic businessman Kazuo Inamori, who was brought in by the government to help turn the firm around.

Inamori, founder of high-tech giant Kyocera, has previously lamented the airline's lack of cost discipline, saying its executives were too inept to run a vegetable shop.

On Monday, he warned against complacency at the revived carrier, given "unexpected risks" that routinely hit the airline industry.

"All the employees became united to reduce costs and increase profit," he told a news briefing in Tokyo.

After filing for bankruptcy in 2010 JAL underwent an aggressive cost-cutting plan, led by charismatic businessman Kazuo Inamori, who was brought in by the government to help turn the firm around.

Inamori, founder of high-tech giant Kyocera, has previously lamented the airline's lack of cost discipline, saying its executives were too inept to run a vegetable shop.

On Monday, he warned against complacency at the revived carrier, given "unexpected risks" that routinely hit the airline industry. "All the employees became united to reduce costs and increase profit," he told a news briefing in Tokyo.