TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The operator of Japan’s largest airline, ANA Holdings Inc ( 9202.T ), has raised its full-year profit forecast as travel demand recovers after the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic. -19 border curbs.
ANA now expects operating profit to reach 95 billion yen ($739 million) in the year to March, up from a previous estimate of 65 billion yen. The consensus forecast of 13 analysts surveyed by Refinitiv is for a full-year profit of 79.3 billion yen.
The company reported an operating profit of 99 billion yen in the nine months to December, compared with a loss of 116 billion yen a year earlier, it said in a statement.
Competitor Japan Airlines Co ( 9201.T ) also returned to profitability, with pre-tax profit of 24.7 billion yen through December from a loss of 188.7 billion yen a year earlier.
ANA Holdings returned to a half-year profit in September, just before Japan fully reopened to tourists, ending some of the world’s strictest border measures against COVID infections.
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Visitors to Japan rose to 1.37 million in December, the national tourism agency reported last month, though still down 46% from pre-pandemic levels.
But arrivals from mainland China remain well below what they were in 2019 due to Beijing’s recently eased COVID restrictions.
“We have strong expectations that travel between Japan and China will return to pre-corona levels as the infection situation unfolds,” ANA CFO Kimihiro Nakahori told reporters.
($1 = 128.5600 yen)
Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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