Singapore Air's Q3 profit falls 53 pct on high jet fuel

Singapore Airlines Ltd, the world's second largest airline by market value, reported a worse-than-expected 53 per cent fall in quarterly net profit, hit by high jet fuel prices and warned that passenger yields would be under pressure.

The carrier, around 55 per cent owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, made S$135.2 million ($108.1m)profit for October-December down from S $288.3m a year ago.

The earnings was lower than average forecast of S$162.5m from four analysts polled by Reuters.

The global airlines industry has been struggling to pass on the higher cost of fuels to customers as demand for business and leisure travel dwindled due to the global economic slowdown.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) cut its forecast for airline industry profits by a quarter to $3.5 billion for 2012 and warned the industry could plunge to an $8.3bn loss if Europe's debt problems trigger another banking crisis.

Singapore Air's shares have lost around a quarter of its value since the end of July as concerns about a global recession hit the airline.