Continental Flies Over Oil Crisis Melanie Lindner, 01.17.08, 5:10 PM ET Despite many major airlines sinking under record high oil prices, Continental is flying high due to its strong traffic on its trans-Atlantic and domestic flights. Continental Airlines was slated to report its fourth-quarter and full year results on Thursday, but said its final figures won't be posted until mid-February due to calculation changes stemming from a new federal law allowing pilots to work longer before retiring. In December, a law passed that raised the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65. Thus, Continental is redoing the math on pension liabilities as it now expects most of its pilots to keep working beyond the age of 60. Continental said it was able to at least partially offset the cost of oil, which reached a record $100.00 per barrel in the fourth quarter, by using hedging transactions and better fuel efficiency. Other airlines have recently reported losses stemming from fuel prices. (See: AMR's Earnings Turbulance) On a pre-tax basis, the Houston-based airline carrier said its profits reached $71.0 million, compared with a pre-tax loss of $26.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2006. However, excluding one-time gains and losses, Continental's pre-tax profit was $26.0 million, compared with a loss of $4.0 million in the similar period a year prior. Due to the December law regarding mandatory retirement age for pilots, Continental said its pension liabilities would be reduced, causing the company to record a non-cash tax charge between $70.0 million and $140.0 million in the fourth quarter to raise its tax-valuation allowance. Also in the fourth quarter, the company expects to record $47.0 million in one-time gains, most of which stems from the sale of its stake in Arinc, an aviation technology provider, to The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. Sales for the period ending Dec. 31 jumped to $3.52 billion, up from $3.16 billion in the year ago quarter. Continental just barely beat the estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Financial who predicted sales of $3.51 billion. While Continental is still waiting on its final calculations for the full-year of 2007 results, the company did report a pretax profit of $566.0 million, up 53.0% from $369 million in 2006. However, excluding one-time gains and losses, the company would have earned $542.0 million, up 78.0% from $304 million in 2006. In 2007, sales jumped 8.0% to $14.2 billion from $13.1 billion in 2006. Analyst Raymond Neidl of Calyon Securities said he expects Continental to not only earn a profit, but also beat Wall Street's predictions. "They did better than consensus, their guidance looks strong and demand looks strong, " said Neidl. According to Bear Stearns analyst Frank Boroch, the market should soon begin to focus on Continental's "best in class execution, profitable growth strategy, and attractive valuation amid likely industry consolidation." Boroch currently has a price target of $34 on Continental and rates the stock "outperform." Continental ticked up 31 cents, or 1.3%, to $24.56 in Thursday trading. The Associated Press contributed to this article. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".