United reports 2nd straight profit

The parent of United Airlines posted a second straight quarterly profit Tuesday for the first time in six years, a $190-million gain that lifted the longtime industry laggard near the top of U.S. carriers for profitability in the third quarter.

UAL Corp. overcame soaring fuel expenses with the help of higher fares and lower costs as the result of its three-year bankruptcy restructuring, which concluded in February.

Its second straight quarter in the black followed a $119-million profit in the April-through-June quarter that was its first true profit since 2000.

The gain also was the second-biggest behind Continental Airlines Inc.’s $237 million among U.S. airline companies for the third quarter.

“This was the best performance since [UAL] exited bankruptcy earlier this year and compares more favorably with results reported by its peer large U.S. airlines than did earlier quarters’ results,” Standard & Poor’s analyst Philip Baggaley wrote in a note to investors.

Net earnings for the three months ended Sept. 30 amounted to $1.30 a share, compared with a loss of $1.77 billion, or $15.26 a share, a year earlier when the company was nearing the end of its restructuring.

The Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based company said $60 million in income tax expense reduced earnings by 43 cents a share. Without that, it would have easily topped analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.43 a share as based on a poll by Thomson Financial.

Revenue was $5.2 billion, up 11% from a year earlier and in line with expectations.

UAL’s stock fell 83 cents, or 2.3%, to $35.94. It gained 35% during October.

UBS analyst Kevin Crissey said the underlying trends at UAL were positive, including strengthening unit passenger revenue.