HIGH-FLYING SUMMER

Transat AT increased profits despite drop in ticket prices,

MONTREAL— Last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris have caused a chill on travel bookings from Canada to the French capital but the impact will be temporary, tour operator Transat AT said Thursday.

“It’s normal but we don’t see that (continuing),” Transat CEO JeanMarc Eustache told analysts on a conference call.

He said things were back to normal for the company six months after the Sept. 11 attacks, which caused the Montreal-based company to lay off staff and cut everyone’s salaries.

“It was the worst ever that had happened in the world and I was hiring everybody back,” Eustache said.

Transat AT increased its profit in the important summer quarter as lower costs helped offset a decline in average ticket prices.

The Montreal-based vacation company says its adjusted net income for the three months ended Oct. 31 was $54.8 million, up from $49.4 million a year earlier.

Transat’s adjusted profit excludes the impact of fuel hedging, restructuring and asset impairments. With those included, its net income for Transat’s fiscal fourth quarter rose to $69.1 million from $30.6 million in the same period last year.

Revenue fell $5.5 million to $844.7 million, a decline of 0.6 per cent, as lower fuel costs triggered a decline in average selling prices.

Transat’s North American business units increased their revenue by $17.1 million, largely because a new booking system transferred some sales to Canada that would previously have been from Europe.

Revenue from Transat’s European business units fell by $22.6 million, in part because of the new booking system and also because of fewer bookings to North Africa and other Mediterranean locations and fewer tours to the United States.

“All in all, this was an excellent summer,” Eustache said in a statement.

Transat announced earlier that it is aiming to reduce operating costs by at least $100 million over three years.