Aug 20 (Reuters) – AirAsia Bhd, Asia’s largest budget airline by passengers, said second-quarter net profit rose 529 percent due to foreign exchange gains, the deferment of taxes and higher passenger numbers.
Net profit for the three months through June increased to 367.16 million Malaysian ringgit ($116 million) from 58.35 million a year before. Revenue rose to 1.31 billion ringgit from 1.25 billion.
The company, run by entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, had seen net profit slide 54 percent in the last financial year, hit by volatile currency moves and price competition in its home market from Malindo, an affiliate of Indonesia’s Lion Air and Malaysian Airline System.
The stock is down almost 25 percent over the past year, versus a 4.1 percent rise in the broader index. (1 US dollar = 3.1660 Malaysian ringgit) (Reporting By Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah; Writing By Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by David Holmes)