China Southern swings to net loss in first half

China Southern Airlines, the country's biggest airline by fleet size, said Friday it swung to a net loss of 1.02 billion yuan ($165.75 million) in the first half of the year owing to foreign exchange losses.

The figure compared to a net profit of 302 million yuan a year earlier, based on Chinese accounting standards, the airline said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange.

Revenue for the Guangzhou-based airline rose to 50.21 billion yuan, up 9.15 percent from the previous year, it said.

The results were in line with a company forecast in July of a net loss of between 0.9 billion yuan and 1.1 billion yuan, owing to slower growth in the Chinese economy and exchange losses.

State rival Air China this week reported a 58 percent drop in first-half net profit, using Chinese accounting standards.

Chinese airlines carried 350 million passengers last year, up nearly 11 percent from 2012, according to official figures. The civil aviation authority said the country will have more than 230 airports by 2015, up from 193 last year.

But foreign exchange losses hit their bottom lines. The yuan lost almost 2.5 percent during the six months through June.

The International Air Transport Association in June said overall airline profits are improving and it expects companies to record combined net profits of $18 billion for 2014.

-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --