JetBlue Airways Corp. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter loss widened, as increased revenue could not offset the impact of sharply higher fuel costs. The airline also forecast losses for the first quarter and full year 2006.
JetBlue's fourth-quarter losses totaled $42.4 million, or 25 cents per share, reversing a year-ago profit of $1.5 million, or a penny per share.
The results include $6.9 million in stock-compensation costs and a $6.1 million charge for development costs related to a discarded maintenance and inventory tracking system.
Excluding those items, losses would have been $32 million, or 19 cents per share.
Analysts predicted a quarterly loss of 14 cents per share, according to Thomson Financial. Wall Street estimates typically exclude one-time items.
Revenue jumped 34 percent to $446 million from $332.8 million a year ago.
"We are very disappointed in our performance this quarter as we continued to feel the effects of record-high fuel prices and a tough revenue environment, compounded by the impact of Hurricane Wilma and the residual effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita," said David Neeleman, chairman and chief executive.
The company paid 50 percent more for jet fuel during the quarter - an average price of $1.87 per gallon versus $1.24 per gallon a year ago.
Revenue passenger miles - equal to one paying passenger flown one mile - jumped 22 percent year over year to 5.2 billion during the quarter. Available seat miles, an industry measure of capacity, grew 25 percent to 6.4 billion. Load factor, or the percentage of seats filled with passengers, declined 1.8 percentage points to 81 percent.
Full-year losses totaled $20.3 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with earnings of $46.2 million, or 28 cents per share, in 2004. Annual revenue rose 34 percent to $1.70 billion from $1.26 billion in 2004.
JetBlue forecast a negative operating margin between 3 percent and 5 percent in the first quarter of 2006, assuming an aircraft fuel cost of $1.92 per gallon. The company expects to post losses for the first quarter and full year.
Analysts were looking for earnings of 3 cents per share in the first quarter and 15 cents per share for the year.
Shares of JetBlue were down 84 cents, or 6.4 percent, to $12.20, in premarket activity.
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