Jin Air Co.’s shares gained early Wednesday on market expectations for solid corporate earnings led by pend-up travel demand following China’s lifting of pandemic curbs.
Shares of the South Korean budget airline, affiliated with Korean Air Lines Co., rose as much as 6.4% to 17,400 won ($13.41) in early trade, putting the stock on course for the sharpest daily percentage gain in six months, and outperforming the benchmark Kospi’s 0.1% gain.
Jin Air’s passenger traffic is expected to more than double to 800,000 in the first quarter, up from 340,000 in the prior quarter, as it increased flights to China in March, Daishin Securities analysts Yang Ji-hwan and Lee Ji-ni said in a research note.
Revenue from the company is likely to quadruple on-year to KRW284 billion in the first quarter, they said.
Its operating profit is expected to hit a quarterly record of KRW54 billion, higher than the market consensus forecast of KRW38 billion, they added.
Daishin keeps a buy rating and KRW25,000 target price on the stock.