El Al Israel Airlines Announced Today Its Financial Results for the Year 2016 and the Fourth Quarter of the Year

LOD, Israel, March 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

El Al Israel Airlines (TASE: ELAL) announced today that the Company's revenues in 2016 amounted to approx. USD 2,038 million, compared to approx. USD 2,054 million in the previous year;

Profit before tax in 2016 was approx. USD 93 million, compared to a profit before tax of approx. USD 145 million in the previous year;

The Company completed 2016 with a net profit of approx. USD 81 million compared to a net profit of approx. USD 107 million in 2015;

The Company's cash and deposit balances as of December 31, 2016 totaled approx. USD 212 million and the equity amounted to approx. USD 284 million;

The Company's market-share of passenger traffic at Ben-Gurion Airport increased in 2016 to approx. 32.6%, compared to approx. 32.5% in the previous year.

Load factor in 2016 stood at approx. 84%, compared to 83.3% in the previous year;

Passenger segments increased by approx. 11%

EBITDA in 2016 amounted to approx. USD 287 million, compared to approx. USD 331 million last year;

Cash flow from operating activities in 2016 amounted to approx. USD 243 million, compared to a cash flow of approx. USD 271 million in 2015;

Equity in 2016 increased to approx. USD 284 million, compared to USD 198 million as of December 31, 2015;

The Company's revenues in the fourth quarter of 2016 amounted to approx. USD 460.8 million, compared to approx. USD 476.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2015;

The Company recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016 a net loss of approx. USD 2.4 million, compared to a profit of approx. USD 12.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

David Maimon, El Al's CEO:

"The Company announced a net profit for 2016 of approx. USD 81 million and a growth in all operational parameters, including an increase of about 11% in passenger segments, a market-share increase to 32.6% and an impressive load-factor of 84%.

The 2016 results were affected by the pilots' crisis that reached its peak in the fourth quarter of the year. The main impact was on the operating expense items.

We continue preparations for the arrival of the new wide-body 787 Dreamliners, the first of which is expected to arrive at the end of August 2017.

Additionally, in 2016 we continued the trend of rejuvenating our narrow-body aircraft fleet, upon completion of the 8 Boeing 737-900 aircraft arrival process. Currently, the average age of the Company's narrow-body airplanes stands at seven years old. At the same time, as per our commitment, we continue the pilot of WIFI services during flights, which will be gradually installed in all Boeing 737-900 aircraft.