CATHAY ANNUAL PROFITS SURGE

Cathay Pacific Group has reported annual profits nearly a third higher for 2010 to HK$14.04 billion ($1.8 billion) from a HK$4.69 billion in 2009 on a 33.7% rise in revenue to HK$89.52 billion. Full-year operating expenses climbed 28% to HK$78.47 billion. CX and subsidiary Dragonair carried a combined 26.7 million passengers in 2010, up 9.1% on 2009. Capacity rose 9.9% to 24.46 billion ATKs and load factor was 83.4%, up 2.9 points. Passenger yield was up 19.8% to HK$0.612. Freight carried by CX and Dragonair was up 18.1% to 1.8 million tones as cargo capacity rose 15.2%. The group’s full-year