April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean Air, the country’s national flag carrier, shifted to a net loss in the first quarter from a year earlier as a strong won drove up foreign exchange losses.

In the three months that ended on March 31, Korean Air swung to a net loss of 10.04 billion won (US$9.34 million) from a net profit of 559.17 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

The won’s strength against the dollar in the first quarter sharply drove up Korean Air’s dollar-denominated debts, a company spokesman said.

The dollar fell to 1,066.50 won at the end of March from 1,116.10 won a year earlier, data from the Bank of Korea showed.

Operating profit fell 13 percent to 166.34 billion won in the March quarter from the previous year’s 191.51 billion won. Sales rose  8.2 percent to 3.102 trillion won from 2.866 trillion won during the same period, it said.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires