Singapore's Tiger Airways reports lower loss

Singapore's low-cost carrier Tiger Airways said on Tuesday that the company has recorded an operating loss of 2.3 million Singapore dollars (1.73 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, a significant 90.6 percent improvement from the loss of 24.2 million Singapore dollars (18.2 million U.S. dollars) from a year ago.

The profit is backed by stronger yield, lower cost and a higher load factor of 3.9 percentage points.

Tigerair's net loss after tax also fell from 95.5 million Singapore dollars (71.8 million U.S. dollars) a year ago to 18.8 million Singapore dollars (14.1 million U.S. dollars).

Total revenue rose 5 percent to 172.2 million Singapore dollars (129.5 million U.S. dollars), while total expenses fell 7.3 percent to 174.5 million Singapore dollars (131.2 million U.S. dollars).

"Our turnaround efforts continue to bear fruit. More than half of the recovery in operating performance came from stronger yields and load factors, while the remainder came from lower fuel price. The changes in provisions relating to our fleet will also put us on a firmer footing moving forward," said the company's CEO Lee Lik Hsin.