WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - United Airlines (UAL) Thursday reported an increase in second-quarter profit, helped by a 3 percent climb in revenue that topped Wall Street estimates.
The company announced a $1 billion share buyback program, which it expects to complete in the next three years.
'I am encouraged by the solid progress we made in the second quarter. Our team is focused on improving our operations and service and on continuing to improve year-over-year revenue performance and cost control,' said CEO Jeff Smisek.
The Chicago, Illinois-based company posted quarterly net income of $789 million or $2.01 per share, up from $469 million or $1.21 per share last year.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $2.34 per share.
On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $2.19 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Revenues for the second quarter climbed 3.3 percent to $10.33 billion from $10 billion in the prior year. Analysts expected revenues of $10.31 billion for the quarter.
During the quarter, the company's revenue passenger miles increased 0.6 percent and available seat miles slipped 0.1 percent year-over-year. Load factor was 85.3 percent.
The company ended the quarter with $6.8 billion in unrestricted liquidity.
UAL stock is trading at $46.89, up $0.89 or 1.93%, on a volume of 7.9 million shares on the NYSE.
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