United Continental Fourth-quarter Earnings Miss, Will Add 40 Boeing Aircraft Starting Mid-2017

United Continental Holdings Inc. shares are down 1.4% in premarket trading after it missed on both profit and sales. The company said it had net income of $823 million, or $2.24 per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from $28 million, or 7 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were $2.54 per share, missing the FactSet consensus of $2.59 per share. Revenue for the fourth quarter totaled $9.03 billion, down 3% from $9.31 billion for fourth quarter 2014. The FactSet consensus was $9.08 billion. Total passenger revenue was $7.73 billion, down 4.4% from $8.08 billion last year. United Continental said it will add 40 new Boeing 737-700 aircraft to its fleet starting mid-2017, replacing aircraft used by the company's regional partners. The airline will reduce the number of 50-seat aircraft in its fleet by 50% by 2019. United Continental shares are down 34.8% for the past 12 months. The S&P 500 is down 8.5% for the past year.