DHAKA: Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday net profit more than tripled last year on a rise in Chinese travellers and fuel-cost savings, but its cargo unit saw earnings fall while analysts warned of a tough future.

The city’s flag-carrier said profit jumped to HK$2.62 billion from HK$862 million in 2012 as revenue climbed 1.1 percent to HK$100.5 billion.

The 204 percent increase helped the firm recover from a painful 2012, when its bottom line was hammered by the effects of the eurozone crisis as well as persistently high fuel prices.

The result was in line with the average HK$2.74 billion net profit forecast by analysts in a poll by the Wall Street Journal, reports gulfnews.com.

However, the figure is still well down from the HK$5.5 billion profit seen in 2011.

‘The operating environment remained challenging throughout 2013...It was therefore encouraging to see an improvement in our overall performance,’ company chairman Christopher Pratt said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

‘Business outlook for 2014 looks to be improved when compared to 2013,’ he added.

BDST: 1951 HRS, MAR 12, 2014