AirTran Stock Rises After Narrow 4Q Loss

NEW YORK_Shares of AirTran Holdings Inc. climbed Tuesday, after the discount airline reported an unexpectedly narrow fourth-quarter loss despite high fuel spending.

Stock of the Orlando, Fla.-based parent company of AirTran Airways Inc. rose $1.50, or 11 percent, to close at $15.45 on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was heavy.

Tuesday's strongest level of $16.10 came close to the 52-week high of $16.85 set Jan. 4. There was a 52-week low of $7.40 last Jan. 24.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company reported a loss of $364,000, or less than a penny a share. That's below earnings of $1.1 million, or a penny a share, in the prior fourth quarter.

However, the latest result is less than the estimated loss of about 6 cents a share that was forecast, on average, in a Thomson Financial analyst survey.

"During the fourth quarter, we were challenged by high fuel prices and the aftermath of hurricanes," AirTran Chief Financial Officer Stan Gadek said in the company's press release Tuesday. "While break-even performance is never satisfactory, we managed to contain our non-fuel costs while experiencing capacity growth of 25 percent."

Revenue rose 46 percent to $408.1 million, which is above the $401.9 million expected by Wall Street.

Load factor, or a percentage of filled seats, was 71.5 percent, a record.

JPMorgan analyst Jamie Baker called the fourth-quarter results "respectable" and maintained his "neutral" rating.

For full-year 2005, AirTran reported net income of $2.7 million, or 3 cents a share. That compares with net income of $12.3 million, or 14 cents a share, in 2004.

Operating revenue climbed 39 percent to $1.45 billion from $1.04 billion.