(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Japan Airlines (JAL) said Friday its net profit for the April-September period slipped 2.0 percent to $724 million as a weak yen pushed up fuel costs, but the carrier also revised up its full-year earnings forecast.
The company said net profit came in at 80.32 billion yen ($724 million), while sales rose 3.7 percent to 683.77 billion yen.
For the fiscal year through March, JAL revised up its annual forecast to a 135 billion yen net profit against a previous forecast of a 115 billion yen.
Sales for the full-year were now expected to come in at 1.34 trillion yen, down slightly from earlier expectations of 1.35 trillion yen, it said.
The airline said that a sharp drop in the yen has driven up the cost of fuel, often a carrier's single-biggest expense. The weaker currency makes commodities priced in US dollars more expensive.
The yen has lost more than quarter of its value against the dollar since late 2012 as Japanese premier Shinzo Abe and his hand-picked team at the Bank of Japan launched a policy blitz, dubbed "Abenomics", aimed at kickstarting the economy and reversing years of deflation.
"We see brisk foreign demand for international routes as well as business demand in outward flights from Japan, but sales fell below our plan because of a cheaper yen," JAL said in a statement.
"Our annual operating cost is likely to fall by 28 billion yen compared with our previous forecasts due to declines in fuel markets and our continued cost-cutting," it added.
For the first six months to September, operating profit slipped 3.1 percent to 92.86 billion yen, JAL said.
JAL cited a rise in demand for international seats, as it expanded overseas flights to and from Tokyo's Haneda airport.
The company logged a 5.3 percent increase in revenues from international passenger services, while domestic flight revenue slipped 1.4 percent.
The announcement comes a day after JAL's chief rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) said its half-year net profit soared 78 percent as the Haneda expansion boosted the carrier's international business.
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