Pobeda’s financial results exceed forcasts in 2015

According to the Russian accounting standards, the carrier made 32 million rubles, according to IFRS, it lost 80 (Photo by Fyodor Borisov / transport-photo.com)

The low-cost airline Pobeda, a part of the Aeroflot Group, registered a net profit of 32 million rubles, as measured by the Russian Accounting Standards. According to the International Accounting Standards, the carrier took a loss of 80 million rubles, as the general director of Aeroflot Vitaly Saveliev told the news channel Rossiya-24. According to Saveliev, the business plan for the low-cost airline predicted a loss of 1.7 billion rubles in the first year of operation. Saveliev has not specified whether this figure is measured in Russian or in international standards.

It is expected that Pobeda will bring a profit in 2016. As Saveliev affirms, the financial results of Pobeda have proven to be so successful that the Group has decided to hold back its development. In particular, it has been decided to limit the carrier’s operation on international routes, which make up 15% of the carrier’s total number of flights.

The main reason behind the Aeroflot Group’s decision to limit the growth of Pobeda is the unwillingness of the Group to exceed 50% of the total market share, in effect giving the group the status of monopoly. With these same goals in mind, the Group has rejected almost a quarter of the international ___ which it received from the bankrupt Transaero.

In 2015 Pobeda carried 3.09 million passengers, and the passenger traffic reached 950.8 thousand passengers in the first three months of 2016. Pobeda’s rapid growth, together with Transaero’s exit from the market, allowed the low-fare airline to climb to fifth place in the number of air passengers served in Russia. According to Saveliev, Pobeda is expected to carry over 4 million passengers in 2016.

Currently, Pobeda’s fleet consists of 12 narrow-body Boeing 737-800s. There are no plans to increase the fleet in the near future. Pobeda carries passengers on routes between 31 Russian cities. The carrier also serves several international destinations: Bratislava, Slovakia; Vienna, Austria; Cologne and Munich, Germany; Zurich, Switzerland; Larnaca and Paphos in Cyprus; and Tivat, Montenegro.