FILE- In this Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012, file photo, a Delta connection airplane approaches LaGuardia airport, in New York. Delta Air Lines Inc. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
January 21, 2014 - 5:05 AM
MINNEAPOLIS - Delta is reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as fares and traffic rose.
Delta's yield — a key measure of what each passenger pays to fly one mile — rose 4 per cent.
Not counting a non-cash adjustment for taxes, Delta earned $558 million, or 63 cents per share. Revenue rose 6 per cent to $9.08 billion. Both were better than analysts expected, with one-time items excluded on profit.
Delta's net income was $8.48 billion because of a one-time, $8 billion accounting benefit related to taxes.
A year earlier, Delta earned $7 million, or a penny per share, after Superstorm Sandy hurt profits.
Delta Air Lines Inc. expects to boost the amount of flying it does by 2 per cent to 3 per cent during the current quarter. Capacity rose just 1 per cent last year.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014