KUALA LUMPUR (March 1): AirAsia Group Bhd group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said he stood by his earlier comments and stressed that investors should keep a lookout for the low-cost carrier's first quarter results.

In a series of tweets from his handle @tonyfernandes, he said: "Look out for the 1st quarter. Stand by my earlier comments of best years ever.

"Finally our platform business is a huge earning machine. Time will tell. Those who have faith will be rewarded with earnings growth and dividends."

Fernandes added that AirAsia was not a quarterly company.

"Took advantage of slots availability and planes to grow a huge 21 percent of capacity which had an adverse effect of yield. But the yield is now back in 1st QTR as expected and we have much lower oil," he added.

Higher fuel prices and operating lease expenses pushed AirAsia into the red with a net loss of RM394.97 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 (4QFY18), despite higher revenue. This is the group's first loss-making quarter since 3QFY15.

Average fuel price in 4QFY18 came in at US$92 per barrel, versus of US$69 a year earlier, AirAsia said in a stock exchange filing on Feb 27.

Operating lease expenses rose due to completion of the group's sale and leaseback transaction, whereby it sold its aircraft and leased them back.

The group posted a net profit of RM372.65 million in the previous year's corresponding quarter, when revenue came in at RM2.66 billion. Revenue grew 6.2% to RM2.82 billion in 4QFY18, after a 16% increase in total passengers carried.

However, the group's load factor in 4QFY18 fell to 84% from 88% previously, as the increase in total passengers carried was lower than the 21% increase in capacity, as the group sought to increase its market share and secure airport slots.

AirAsia said this resulted in a short-term setback as fares were down by 6% to RM171, as it prepares for a strong start in 2019.

The group said there were numerous one-off items related to the transfer of aircraft to BBAM Ltd Partnership and change in accounting from owning to leasing of aircraft.

At the midday break today, AirAsia fell 2.53% or 7 sen to RM2.70 with 13.93 million shares traded.