TOKYO -- Japan's second largest airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) said Tuesday its bottom line slipped in the nine months to December as high oil costs undercut growth in both passenger and cargo traffic.

But ANA said it expected a greater than previously estimated profit this year due to the steady growth in air travel, particularly business trips. The number of business travelers picked up, balancing off a slight drop in tourism due to anti-Japanese demonstrations in China and terrorist attacks in London last year, ANA said. The growth in air travel "reflects improving general economic conditions in Japan," Tomohiro Hidema, ANA's senior vice president for finance, said in a statement. "However, despite posting our highest ever nine-month revenue and second highest ever operating profit, operating profit and net profit were adversely affected by continued record high oil prices," Hidema said. ----ANA's profit fall ANA's net profit fell 14.8 percent to 29.9 billion yen (254.6 million dollars) in the nine months to December 31 from 35.1 billion yen in the previous period. ANA, the main competitor with Asia's biggest carrier Japan Airlines, also blamed a change in accounting standards related to impairment losses on fixed assets for the fall in net profit. But revenue in the period was up 5.7 percent to one trillion yen and operating profit was up 10.9 percent to 89.9 billion yen. ANA raised its forecast for the year to March to a net profit of 17 billion yen, up seven percent from the previously estimated 10 billion yen. Revenue is forecast to rise 24 percent higher than earlier forecast in the year to 1.35 trillion yen. ANA has teamed up with the soon-to-be-privatized Japan Post to start a new cargo airline to take to the skies this year. ANA said it carried 520,000 tons of cargo in the period, up 3.7 percent ear-on-year. PIN/AFP
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