Singapore Airlines' interim profit nearly halves on higher fuel costs

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Singapore Airlines' SIAL.SI interim net profit dropped nearly 44%, hurt by a sharp spike in jet fuel costs stemming from the Middle East conflict, somewhat offset by its share of losses at Air India and other associates narrowing.

The city-state's flag carrier posted half-yearly net profit of S$134 million ($104.56 million) on Wednesday, down from S$239 million a year ago.

A consensus from Visible Alpha had expected profit to drop further to S$65.3 million.

The airline's expenditure rose more than 20% to S$10.73 billion, largely due to a surge of over 90% in fuel costs before hedging.

Average jet fuel prices over the six months stood at US$171 per barrel, up 86.7% from the previous year amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the company said.

The softer first-quarter performance also weighed.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines' share of losses from Air India in the interim period narrowed to S$361.7 million from S$429.5 million a year ago.

Total revenue for the first half rose 16.8% to S$11.30 billion from the same period last year.

($1 = 1.2816 Singapore dollars)