AMR Corp.'s 4Q Losses Deepen on Fuel Costs

American Airlines parent AMR Corp. on Wednesday said its fourth-quarter loss widened as the nation's biggest airline company wrestled with high fuel costs and competition with low-cost rivals.

Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said the company is "dissatisfied with our financial results."

"We need to do more - on both the cost and revenue sides of the ledger - to return our company to sustained profitability," he said.

Losses totaled $604 million, or $3.49 per share, for the three months ended Dec. 31 versus $387 million, or $2.40 per share, in the prior-year period. The latest period includes $191 million in special items, including $155 million in aircraft charges, $73 million in facility charges and a $37 million gain related to debt restructuring.

Without the special items, AMR would have posted a loss of $413 million, or $2.39 per share, in the latest quarter.

AMR revenue rose 14 percent to $5.17 billion from $4.54 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to report a loss of $2.50 per share on $5.24 billion in revenue. Their estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Its shares fell 22 cents to $18.64 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The high cost of energy weighed on the company's bottom line, as AMR paid $433 million more for jet fuel than it would have had prices held steady with the prior year.

For the full year, losses widened to $861 million, or $5.21 per share, from $761 million, or $4.74 per share, in 2004. Annual revenue rose 11 percent to $20.71 billion from $18.65 billion in 2004.

AMR ended the year with $4.3 billion in cash and short-term investments, including a restricted balance of $510 million.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.