UAL posts $165 million third-quarter operating profit

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, Oct. 31 - UAL Corp. reported $165 million in operating earnings for the third quarter, $245 million better than the same quarter of 2004, according to a company news release.

UAL reported a net loss of $1.8 billion for the 2005 third quarter, which includes $1.8 billion in reorganization items.

Excluding reorganization items, UAL earned a $68 million net profit for the third quarter.

Reorganization items were primarily driven by $1.7 billion in non-cash aircraft rejection charges, the release said.

"United is a fundamentally better company today with sustainable improvements across the business and solid operational performance," chairman, chief executive officer and president Glen Tilton said in the release.

"The results we are reporting make it clear that we have done well this quarter in overall cost control, especially given the significant reduction in capacity."

In the third quarter of 2005, United achieved significant milestones in its restructuring activities, including filing its plan of reorganization, setting a schedule under which the company expects to exit bankruptcy in February, finalizing a commitment for $3 billion in all-debt exit financing with JP Morgan and Citibank receiving court approval of its disclosure statement, which allows the solicitation process to begin.

The company ended the quarter with a $1.7 billion unrestricted cash balance and a $2.7 billion restricted cash balance. The unrestricted cash balance increased by $35 million during the quarter, according to the release.

UAL also reported a $24 million operating loss for September, compared to an $80 million operating profit in August and a $118 million loss in September 2004.

The Chicago-based parent of United Airlines filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 9, 2002 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Its Chapter 11 case number is 02-48191.

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