SAS profits soar

Scandinavian Airline Sys-tem, or SAS, reported high second-quarter profits that have helped the airline steer clear of the global aviation slump and predict a full-year profit.

The company reported a second-quarter net profit of 968 million Swedish kronor (104 million euros) compared with 128 million kronor for the same period last year.

Second-quarter pretax profit came in at 1.04 billion kronor compared with 180 million kronor, and massively above analysts average expectations of 238 million kronor.

Sales also grew in the second quarter, reaching 17.87 billion kronor compared with 13.81 billion in the same quarter last year and expert forecasts of 16.8 billion kronor.

The airline also said it expected pretax earnings to show profit despite continued uncertainty regarding competition and developments.

Capital gains for the full year 2002, including costs for phasing in and phasing out aircraft, would amount to at least 350 million kronor, it said.

Brokers welcomed the results.

SAS is the major partner of Latvian national air carrier airBaltic.