Singapore Airlines\' quarterly net profit falls 49%

Singapore Airlines reported a net profit of 194 million Singapore dollars (153 million U.S. dollars) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down 49 percent year on year, the company said on Thursday. Revenue of Singapore Airlines, one of the industry benchmarks, for the three-month period grew by 2 percent to 3.7 billion Singapore dollars (2.9 billion U.S. dollars), but group expenditure at rose by a faster 9 percent to 3.6 billion Singapore dollars (2.8 billion U.S. dollars) on higher jet fuel prices. It declared an interim dividend of 10 Singapore cents per share for the half-year ended Sept. 30, lower than the interim dividend of 20 cents in the previous year. SIA said that the economic uncertainty and weak consumer confidence are impacting demand for air transportation and that advance passenger bookings are showing signs of weakness, particularly in Europe and the United States. Both passenger and cargo yields are expected to remain under pressure, while no let up is expected for high fuel prices, it said.  (1 U.S. dollar = 1.27 Singapore dollars)