If one more “leader” blames the election for Australia’s developing economic weakness I’m going to scream. The latest is Virgin Australia Holdings chief executive John Borghetti who has blamed the company’s expected full-year loss on “difficult economic conditions”:
The airline now expects to report an operating pre-tax loss of $30 million to $50 million for the 2012-13 financial year. In May, it had forecast positive underlying profit before tax in the fourth quarter and a positive overall figure for the year, albeit lower than last year. CIMB analyst Mark Williams last week had forecast Virgin would report a profit before tax of $48 million, down from $83 million the prior year.
…“Leisure in particular needed a lot of stimulating to get people to put their hands in their pocket,” he said. “That is a consequence of weak economic conditions. People don’t want to spend.”
Mr Borghetti said he was hoping confidence would improve following the upcoming federal election on September 7.
“If you could have this election tomorrow it would be beneficial because you would get some certainty,” he said. “The uncertainty is what scares people on confidence.”
Who doesn’t get on a plane because of an election?
