United Airlines' parent UAL reports $53 million 4Q loss

CHICAGO: United Airlines parent UAL Corporation reported a $53 million loss for the fourth quarter on Tuesday on a sharp rise in the price of fuel and bad weather that forced a raft of holiday flight cancellations.

Net income for the last three months of 2007 amounted to 47 cents a share and was slightly improved from a loss of $61 million, or 55 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier.

Revenue was $5.03 billion, up 9.7 percent from $4.59 billion a year ago.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 89 cents per share and revenue of $4.95 billion, based on a survey by Thomson Financial.

Poor December weather forced United to canel about 2,350 flights last month more than 4.9 per cent of its systemwide departures.

Labor discord also is thought to have contributed to its schedule problems, with at least one analyst saying pilots called in sick and refused to fly customary extra hours due to an ongoing dispute with management over pay.

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