Questions surround SAA’s R162 million profit

Concerns about South African Airways’ (SAA) true financial stability have begun to surface, particularly regarding the group’s profitability.

SAA released its financial results for its 2025 financial year on 6 February 2026, in which the group reported a net profit of R155 million.

However, aviation analyst Guy Leitch has questioned the accuracy of these results, claiming that a closer inspection reveals several inconsistencies.

Speaking to 702, Leitch explained that the report contains multiple profit figures, which made it impossible to determine how profitable the group really was.

“The question which came to mind was what profit the airline actually made, if any,” Leitch said. “The more we dug, the more we found that there were actually four different possible profit numbers.”

SAA reported an operating profit of R366 million, but Leitch said it is more likely operating at a loss of R317 million before tax, due to operating costs exceeding revenue.

Later in the report, the group lists a total comprehensive profit of R162 million, which they attribute to the addition of “remeasurements of defined benefit plans”.

Leitch claimed an analysis of the group’s previous financial results for 2024 shows a similar pattern of financial misrepresentation.

“The group was forced to restate a claimed profit into a very significant loss of R455 million or so,” Leitch said. “So we’re looking, in my opinion, at two years of losses.”

Leitch’s concerns have been compounded by the latest report from the Auditor-General (AG) of South Africa, who issued a disclaimed audit opinion on SAA’s financial results.

This is the worst audit opinion that an auditee can receive from the AG, as it means its financial statements are deemed unreliable and not backed by credible figures.

When Leitch reached out to SAA for comments on these concerns, the airline responded that it was too preoccupied with its 2026 year-end.

Leitch said he received a phone call from the group’s new head of corporate media relations before his interview on 702, saying his report misconstrued the airline’s financial statements.

Daily Investor also reached out to SAA for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Government denies bailout of SAA

While SAA is technically operating at a loss, this was greatly offset thanks to the selling off of some of the group’s assets.

This included the issuing of over R1 billion in new shares to the airline’s sole stakeholder, the South African government.

The Department of Transport has denied that this represents a bailout of the group, saying the airline last received state funding in April 2023.

SAA also reportedly sold off two highly valued slots at London’s Heathrow airport, further contributing to a R1.17 billion net gain from the disposal of property, aircraft, equipment and intangible assets.

Without this over R1 billion net gain, Leitch said the group’s results would have shown closer to a total loss of R1 billion.

“Presumably, R1 billion changed hands somewhere,” Leitch said. “Again, SAA was on the phone with me, saying they didn’t get any of that money, and that it went to business rescue.”

The group also reported over R500 million as irregular expenditure, something which Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) CEO Wayne Duvenage deemed highly irresponsible.

Meanwhile, the report also shows that the group’s directors and executives continued to receive salary increases in the millions of rands.

Duvenage said that the best way forward would be for the South African government to sell off its majority shareholding in SAA to private companies.

“At OUTA, we’ve always believed that government should get out of holding a majority stake in highly complex and competitive businesses,” Duvenage said.

“This is not their expertise, and political interference remains a problem when it comes to selecting the most competent and professional team possible to manage this airline to leading heights.”

The government announced a public-private partnership with the Takatso Consortium in 2021, with Takatso receiving a 51% ownership stake in SAA.

However, this partnership fell through after three years of negotiations, with the airline reverting to 100% state ownership.