Cathay Pacific posts record $2.8 billion annual loss due to Covid-19 pandemic

Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd reported on Wednesday a record annual loss of HK$21.65 billion ($2.79 billion), due to a sharp downturn in travel associated with the coronavirus pandemic, restructuring costs and fleet writedowns.

The 2020 loss compared with 2019 profit of HK$1.69 billion and was worse than an average forecast for a net loss of HK$19.9 billion by 13 analysts, according to Refinitiv.

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Cathay had previously warned it expected the second-half loss to be "significantly higher" than the record first-half loss of HK$9.87 billion.