Comair posts earnings jump following SAA settlement

Comair has reported a 175% year-on-year increase in earnings per share in its fiscal 2019 financial results, a “direct consequence of a massive payout from South African Airways (SAA). Comair, which operates British Airways in Southern Africa under a license agreement, won a legal settlement after a fight about SAA’s incentive scheme for travel agents, which was in place from 2001 to 2006. The settlement amounts to R1.1 billion (approximately $78 million), plus R168 million in interest. It has helped offset an 82% decline in ‘normalised’ profit before taxation, from R471 million to R86 million. This comes despite a record