Air Canada reported a profit in its latest quarter compared with a loss a year ago as it saw its operating revenue rise nine per cent.
The airline says it earned $345 million or $1.26 per diluted share for its first quarter, compared with a loss of $203 million or 74 cents per diluted share in the same quarter a year ago.
Air Canada says the results included foreign exchange gains of $263 million in its most recent quarter compared with foreign exchange losses of $197 million in the first quarter of 2018.
On an adjusted basis, the airline says it earned $17 million or six cents per diluted share in the quarter compared with an adjusted loss of $26 million or 10 cents per diluted share a year ago.
Operating revenue rose to $4.45 billion compared with $4.07 billion in the first three months of 2018.
Analysts on average had expected a loss of 18 cents per share and revenue of nearly $4.39 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.
On a conference call about the results, Air Canada outlined plans to manage its fleet and flight capacity in light of grounding of Boeing 737 Max airplanes. The planes have been grounded worldwide following two deadly accidents, the first on Indonesia’s Lion Air in October 2018, and Ethiopian Airlines in March.
The impact on the company is expected to increase the longer the grounding continues, an airline spokesperson said.