Air New Zealand is expected to triple its pre-tax profits over the next four years as it benefits from new planes and passenger cabins, as well as route changes, New Zealand’s Dominion Post newspaper reported, citing Rob Mercer, an analyst with New Zealand broking firm Forsyth Barr. It said Mercer has upgraded his profit forecast for the national airline by 50 mln nzd to 205.5 mln nzd before interest and tax for the year to June 2007, rising to 497 mln aud in 2010, and compared with 148 mln aud last year.

Mercer said the key profit driver is a fleet upgrade, which will give Air New Zealand a capital expenditure holiday for the next five years, allowing the airline to generate about 1.7 bln nzd in free cashflow over the next five years.
——-