United's April Results

[BigRed1]

UAL Reports April Results
Thursday May 27, 3:37 pm ET
Improvement of $221 Million Over April 2003
Company Continues to Meet DIP Covenants


CHICAGO, May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UAL Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: UALAQ - News), the holding company whose primary subsidiary is United Airlines, today filed its April Monthly Operating Report (MOR) with the United States Bankruptcy Court. The company reported a loss from operations of $75 million, which represents an improvement of approximately $221 million over April 2003. Mainline passenger unit revenue improved 20% year-over-year. Unit costs were down 12% over last year. Excluding fuel, costs were down 17%. The company reported a net loss of $137 million, including $28 million in reorganization expenses, which include non-cash items resulting from the rejection of aircraft as the company aligns its fleet with the market. UAL met the requirements of its debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing.


"Like the rest of the industry, we are challenged by high fuel prices," said Jake Brace, United's executive vice president and chief financial officer. "We continue to move United's restructuring forward. We are introducing a number of fuel conservation measures and building on our cost reduction efforts on all fronts. If fuel prices were at more typical levels, United would have reported an operating profit in April."

UAL ended April with a cash balance of about $2.3 billion, which included $685 million in restricted cash (filing entities only). The cash balance decreased $246 million during the month of April, driven by a pension contribution of $110 million, a quarterly retroactive wage payment to International Association of Machinists members of $63 million, the April Bank One DIP repayment of $60 million and a quarterly Success Sharing reward to employees of $26 million. The Success Sharing program provided a cash payout for employees, who exceeded the company's performance goals for on-time departure and customer satisfaction.

United continued to deliver strong operational results, with an on-time :14 departure performance of 85.1% and a record April load factor of 79.9%.

 

[Fly]

Great News! We're on our way (I bet the ATSB will be happy about this)

 

[FWAAA]

Good improvement - had it not been for fuel, UAL might have broken even instead of posting a $75 million operating loss.

 

[C54Capt]

Great News! We're on our way (I bet the ATSB will be happy about this)

Why???

The boss comes into his Taco Stand and asks his manager "how's it going?"
The manager replies "Got some good news and some bad news".
"Lets hear the bad news first" said the boss.
"We're losing 25 cents on every taco we sell" he said.
Boss: "Well that is terrible, so what's the good news?"
Manager replies: "The good news is we are selling a sh!! load of tacos".

 

[Fly]

Why is this good news??? Are you serious??? This is the best monthly report we've had since bk. It shows continual improvement, which means we are fixing the problems which plague us and hopefully will push the ATSB to give us the nod. I know that the other airlines wish we'd just go away, but that's not going to happen! Go UAL

 

[C54Capt]

Fly,

The good news is that there is improvement relative to past performance. However, past performance may be irrelevant going forward. Losing six hundred million dollars in four months is never "good news" in any business at any time. I was just trying to control the SPIN before we started dancing in the streets. BTW, I don't think anyone wants UAL to go away, certainly not me. I would like UA to be here when I retire.

 

[TJoe]

This is what Wall Street had to say.
UAL Posts Wider Loss
Amid Higher Fuel Costs



DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
May 27, 2004 5:21 p.m.


WASHINGTON -- UAL Corp., the parent company of United Airlines, reported a loss of $137.3 million for April, including $28 million in reorganization expenses, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.


The company, which has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since 2002, reported a loss of $34 million in March.


UAL reported revenue of $1.4 billion for April, compared with revenue of $1.5 billion in March. Its April operating loss was $74.7 million, compared with operating income of $3.4 million in March.


UAL said Thursday it ended April with a cash balance of $2.3 billion, down $246 million from the previous month due to pension contributions, retroactive labor costs and other items.


"Like the rest of the industry, we are challenged by high fuel prices," said United chief financial officer Jake Brace. "If fuel prices were at more typical levels, United would have reported an operating profit in April."


Chicago-based UAL filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2002, listing assets of $22.73 billion and debts of $21.48 billion. Its United Airlines, United Express and Ted airlines operate more than 3,500 flights a day.