GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. GOL reported lackluster results in the fourth quarter of 2015, hit by weak economic conditions and currency fluctuations. The Latin-American carrier reported net loss of R$1,130 million (approximately $294 million), significantly wider than the year-ago loss of R$631 million (about $248 million).
Revenues
Net revenue decreased 2.2% year over year to R$2,652 million (approximately $689 million). Cargo revenues increased 12.7% while passenger revenues declined 4.7% on an annual basis.
Operational Statistics
Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) – implying revenue generated per kilometer per passenger – deteriorated 8.8% year over year, mainly affected by 12.5% and 8.3% declines in International RPK and domestic RPK, respectively.
Available seat kilometers (ASK) – that measures an airline's passenger carrying capacity – fell 4.8% year over year owing to a respective 12.7% and 3.7% drop in international and domestic ASK.
During the reported quarter, the company’s total load factor (% of seats filled with passengers) stood at 75.4% against 78.47% in the year-ago quarter. Domestically, load factor fell 390 basis points (bps) while internationally, the figure improved 10 bps.
Financials
Exiting the fourth quarter of 2015, GOL had cash and cash equivalents of R$1,072.3 million (approximately $279 million) compared with R$1,898.7 million (approximately $490 million) at the end of 2014. Long-term debt totaled R$7,908.3 million (roughly $2,055 million) in the quarter compared with R$5,124.5 million (approximately $1,324.7 million) a year ago.
Margins and Outlook
Operating costs and expenses in the quarter increased 7.3% to R$2,746.8 million (approximately $714 million). Meanwhile, GOL expects departures to decline in the band of 15% to 18% in 2016 and supply is projected to fall in the 5% to 8% range.
GOL Linhas currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably ranked stocks in the same space include Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft DLAKY, Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. HA and China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. CEA. Deutsche Lufthansa and China Eastern sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while Hawaiian Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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