SA(601021) SINOLINK SECURITIES·2024-10-31 06:58Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Buy" rating for Spring Airlines [2] Core Views - In the first three quarters of 2024, Spring Airlines achieved operating revenue of 15.98 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 13%, while net profit attributable to shareholders decreased by 2.7% to 2.6 billion RMB [2] - The third quarter saw operating revenue of 6.1 billion RMB, a slight increase of 0.5% year-on-year, but net profit dropped by 32% to 1.24 billion RMB [2] - The decline in profitability is attributed to a decrease in ticket prices, with unit revenue per RPK down by 9% in Q3 2024 [2] - The company is expected to benefit from new international routes launched in the winter-spring season of 2024, which may lead to an increase in passenger volume [2] Summary by Sections Operating Analysis - Q3 2024 saw an increase in capacity and passenger load factor, with ASK up by 9.6% and a load factor of 92.7%, leading to a 10.7% increase in RPK [2] - The unit operating cost decreased by 1% to 0.30 RMB, but the gross margin fell to 25.7%, down 5.4 percentage points year-on-year due to lower ticket prices [2] Profit Forecast and Valuation - The net profit forecasts for 2024-2026 have been revised down to 2.8 billion RMB, 3.3 billion RMB, and 4.4 billion RMB respectively [2] - The report maintains the "Buy" rating based on the expected recovery in demand [2]