That aggressive cut helped to bolster MAS’ cargo load factor at 65.6 per cent in the fourth quarter, with yield of 90.4 sen (US$0.25) per load tonne km, compared with the load factor of 64 per cent and yield at 91.8 sen per load tonne km in the corresponding period a year ago.
But taken as a whole, the capacity cut and the declining demand resulted in the decline of MAS’ cargo revenues for the quarter by 22 per cent year-on-year and 12 per cent from the previous quarter to RM517 million (US$140 million). It also pushed the cargo division into the red with an operating loss of RM14.1 million for the quarter, compared with an operating profit of RM64.8 million a year ago.
The implosion of electronics traffic has hit Malaysia hard with Intel’s decision to close a plant on the island of Penang making life even more difficult for MASkargo, which was already struggling to digest the erosion of Chinese exports, which account for an estimated 30 per cent of its revenues.