TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Cost cutting measure that had been put in place since the beginning of 2015 has allowed state flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia (GIAA) to book a net profit totalling US$11,3 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015', after having booked a net loss of US$168,04 million in Q4 of 2014 - the most amount of profit it has managed to book in the past five years.

GIAA is known that have incurred consecutive net losses - it is known to have posted a net loss of US$19,1 million in 2011, US$10,71 million in 2012, US$31,78 million in 2013, amd US$168,04 million in 2014.

The Director of Finance and Risk Management for Garuda Indonesia, I Gusti Ngurah Askhara Danadiputra, said that up until 2015, the company has managed to book profits, unlike last year when the company's financial performances were always in the red.

"We have managed to cut down on our operating costs, especially those relating to non-fuel costs - which has dipped by two percent compared to the previous quarter," said Danadiputra, before adding that such dip coincides with an increase of 12 percent of passenger load, as well as a 10 percent raise in annual income.

It is known that the company managed to book profits totalling US$927,32 million - roughly Rp12,05 trillion - between January and March 2015, an increase of 13,44 percent from the same period last year, wherein it only received US$817,41 million in gross income.

The increase is driven by revenues from Garuda's scheduled passenger services between January and March 2015, which amounted to US$805,48 million - up from US$734,97 million between the months of January and March of 2014. Meanwhile, revenues from non-scheduled services rose to US$39,2 million between the same period in 2015 - up from US$2,85 million between January and March 2014.

Danadiputra explained that Garuda manages to redirect the majority of its' fleet on more profitable routes. Last year, the majority of the company's losses was caused by the ineffecient deployment of aircrafts on routes with low load factors.

BISNIS.COM

http://www.tempo.co/read/news/2015/05/11/090665244/Triwulan-Pertama-2015-Garuda-Kantongi-Laba-US-113-juta