All Nippon Airways Co. reported Friday record-high consolidated pretax profit, operating profit and sales for fiscal 2005, thanks to strong demand for domestic air travel, which more than offset the impact of higher fuel prices.
The country's No. 2 carrier announced a 14 percent rise in operating profit to 88.8 billion yen for the fiscal year that ended March 31. Pretax profit rose 2.3 percent to 66.7 billion yen. It also reported a 5.8 percent increase in sales to 1.37 trillion yen.
But ANA's net profit declined 0.8 percent from the previous year to 26.7 billion yen due to changes in accounting standards related to the impairment of fixed assets.
"We were able to achieve record revenue and operating profit . . . despite a number of factors beyond our control," ANA President Mineo Yamamoto said in a statement, citing anti-Japan demonstrations in China last April that cut traffic between the two countries, and rising fuel prices.
ANA's domestic operations benefited from strong demand for business travel, while the Aichi Expo that ended last September spurred leisure travel. The number of domestic passengers flying ANA during fiscal 2005 rose 2.2 percent from the previous year to 45.4 million.
The carrier also made a profit on its international operations for the second straight year.