Korean Air swings to net loss in 2018 from 2017 profit

Korean Air Lines said Tuesday it swung to a net loss in 2018 from a year earlier due to hefty foreign-exchange losses.

The Korean flag carrier posted a net loss of 167.59 billion won ($150 million), after a net profit of 801.9 billion won a year earlier.

As the dollar rose to 1,118.1 won at the end of 2018 from 1,071.4 won at the end of 2017, foreign-exchange translation losses reached 363.6 billion won and it cut into the annual earnings results, the statement said.

The won’s weakness also drove up net interest costs to 454.8 billion won, up 55.5 billion won from the previous year, it said.

Operating profit fell 28 percent to 676.33 billion won last year from 939.78 billion won a year ago. Sales climbed 7.7 percent.

Yonhap