Profit Dampened by Oil Prices but Still Higher than Industry Average
发布时间:2026-09-02 来源:华泰证券
Spring Airlines has reported 1H26 revenue of RMB12,336mn (+19.7% YoY) and an attributable NP of RMB1,042mn (-10.8% YoY). The 1H26 results were 5% below our previous estimate of RMB1,100mn, likely due to other income in 2Q26 coming in slightly below our expectation. In 2Q26, revenue was RMB6,266mn (+25.6% YoY), while the attributable NP was RMB59mn (-87.9% YoY). As China’s leading low-cost carrier, the company has demonstrated clear operating efficiency and cost advantages in a high oil price environment. Although 2Q26 attributable NP declined YoY, the company still turned a profit, standing out as the only profitable carrier in the industry. Over the medium to long term, amid the trend of mass-market civil aviation in China, we expect Spring Airlines to lead a further rise in low-cost carrier penetration. Meanwhile, benefiting from optimized ex-fuel unit costs, higher utilization, and an improving industry cycle, profit per aircraft could keep growing. Maintain BUY.
Expect low-cost advantages to sustain
In 1H26, Spring Airlines’ supply/demand grew by 15.4/18.0% YoY, with load factor up 2.1pp YoY to 92.6%. Although yield per RPK rose by 2.3% YoY (domestic +0.9%/international +8.1%) and ex-fuel unit cost fell by 4.8% YoY (utilization up 10.2% YoY to 10.7 hours, which diluted fixed costs, along with route structure adjustments, driving down unit take-off and landing and ground service costs), the high oil price in 2Q26 pushed 1H26 unit fuel cost up by 33.2% YoY. The gross margin fell by 3.5pp YoY to 10.4%, and gross profit declined by 10.3% YoY to RMB1,283mn. Net profit ultimately fell by 10.8% YoY to RMB1,042mn. Looking ahead, we expect the company to continue demonstrating its low-cost advantages and lead the growth of China’s low-cost carrier market through newly introduced aircraft and higher utilization.
Earnings forecasts and valuation
We cut our 2026/2027/2028 attributable NP forecasts by 26/3/1% to RMB1,648/3,009/3,919mn, corresponding to EPS of RMB1.68/3.08/4.01. The cuts are due to weaker-than-expected summer travel demand and the recent rise in oil prices. Referring to the company’s average PB of 3.2x since listing, we assign a 2026E PB of 3.2x (previous: 3.5x). Based on our 2026E BPS forecast of RMB19.30 (previous: RMB19.90), we derive our target price of RMB61.80 (previous: RMB69.65). Maintain BUY.
Risks: A sharp rise in oil prices, RMB volatility, faster high-speed rail development, weaker civil aviation travel demand than we expect, a greater decline than we expect in subsidies, greater industry capacity additions than we expect, and safety incidents.