* Q4 EPS C$0.26, matches year-ago EPS
* Revenue climbs nearly 13 pct to C$781.5 mln
* Employees vote in favor of new regional airline
TORONTO, Feb 8 (Reuters) – WestJet Airlines Ltd
said on Wednesday its quarterly earnings dipped in the
fourth quarter but the result topped expectations for Canada’s
second-largest air carrier as revenue jumped.
The company also said its employees had endorsed its plan to
start a regional carrier using a fleet of turboprop aircraft to
serve smaller Canadian markets.
Earnings dipped to C$35.6 million ($35.6 million), or 26
Canadian cents a share, from C$37.2 million, or 26 Canadian
cents, in the same period last year.
Analysts, on average, had forecast earnings of 20 Canadian
cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue increased nearly 13 percent to C$781.5 million.
WestJet, which may launch the short-haul service as early as
2013 with a fleet of about 40 turboprops, said it will now ask
for proposals from Bombardier Inc, for its Q400
NextGen plane, and ATR, a joint venture of aerospace group EADS
and Italian defence group Finmeccanica, for
its ATR 72-600 aircraft.
Continued…
