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Toyota Motor Corp., UAL Corporation, Delta Airlines, Continental Airlines and Southwest Airlines

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  Published in House and Home on Wednesday, May 12th 2010 at 14:10 GMT by Market Wire
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CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Zacks.com Analyst Blog features: Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: [ TM ]), UAL Corporation (Nasdaq: [ UAUA ]), Delta Airlines (NYSE: [ DAL ]), Continental Airlines (NYSE: [ CAL ]) and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: [ LUV ]).

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Here are highlights from Tuesdaya™s Analyst Blog:

Toyota Turns to Annual Profit

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: [ TM ]) posted a profit of 209.5 billion ($2.3 billion) or 66.79 (72 cents) per share for its fiscal 2010 ended March 31, 2010, in stark contrast to a loss of 437 billion ($4.7 billion) or 139.13 ($1.50) per share a year ago.

Sales expansion in Asia, reductions in variable and fixed costs and increased profits in the companya™s Financial Services segment were the principal factors behind the improvement in results, despite the backlash of Toyotaa™s series of automotive safety recalls in the last few months.

However, revenues in the year fell 7.7% to 18.95 trillion ($204 billion), driven by a 9.7% decrease in overseas vehicle sales to 5.1 million units, resulting from sales declines in Europe and other regions. This was partially offset by an 11.2% increase in vehicle sales in Japan to 2.2 million units due to the launch of new products in the market.

United Sees April Traffic Hike

United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL Corporation (Nasdaq: [ UAUA ]), announced on Monday a 0.6% year-over-year increase in its February traffic, measured by revenue passenger miles. Capacity, measured by available seat miles, declined 1.2% from the prior-year quarter, leading to a 150 basis point increase in load factor, or average occupancy, to 81.4% from 79.9% in the year-ago period. For the second quarter 2010, available seat miles are expected to be up in the 0.3a'1.3% range.

United Airlines saw a 23% increase in unit revenue, measured by passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM), a key metric in airlines. This was in line with managementa™s expectations. Reductions in available seat miles or capacity due to volcanic eruptions during the month of April also boosted PRASM.

Peer Delta Airlines (NYSE: [ DAL ]) reported a 2.2% decline in April traffic, besides a 4.1% capacity decline and a 160 basis point increase in load factor. Continental Airlines (NYSE: [ CAL ]) reported a 2.6% decline in traffic and a capacity decrease of 3.2%. Southwest Airlines (NYSE: [ LUV ]) announced a 0.6% decline in traffic and a 5.5% decline in capacity.

Earlier during the month, United and Continental announced the merger of their operations. This merger would give birth to the worlda™s largest airline by size, pushing Delta Airlines to the backseat. The combined company is expected to generate annual revenues of $29 billion (United reported $16 billion of revenues in 2009 and Continental reported $12.6 billion) and will save cost by $1.0a'1.2 billion by 2013. Sufficient financial flexibility is witnessed by $7.4 billion in excess cash.

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