On August 5, CATHAY PAC AIR rose 3.06% in regular trading, trading at HK$14.86/share with turnover of HK$135 million. The rally was driven by the release of interim results showing substantially stronger-than-expected performance.

CATHAY PAC AIR reported first-half revenue of HK$68.061 billion, up 25.3% year-over-year, with shareholder attributable profit of HK$6.243 billion, surging 71% YoY. Earnings per share reached HK$0.995, and the interim dividend was raised 30% to HK$0.26 per share. The group carried 16.006 million passengers in the first half, up 17.5% YoY, with passenger load factor climbing to 87.5%. Management reiterated its full-year target of approximately 10% passenger capacity growth and outlined plans to introduce 150 new aircraft covering 150 destinations over the next decade.

The strong results follow Citi's recent upgrade of the stock from Sell to Buy with a target price of HK$16.2, naming it the top pick in the Asia-Pacific airline sector with core profit forecasts raised 21% and 66% for the current and next fiscal years respectively.

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