AirAsia Bhd will continue to post strong numbers, going forward, as the second-half of the year is anticipated to be stronger as forward bookings were expected to be higher than last year.

'We expect the carrier to meet our earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization forecast of RM1.35 billion, although we expect new plane deliveries to result in higher depreciation,' OSK Research Sdn Bhd said in its research note today.

It raised AirAsia's core pre-tax profit for this year and next year by 15 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively.

OSK Research also revised downwards the interest costs for financial year 2010-2011 by 14 per cent and 10 per cent due to the strengthening ringgit and interest charges collected from AirAsia's associates.

'For 2011, we have raised our revenue by four per cent as we tweak our allocation for the effective planes based in Malaysia from 53 to 55,' it said.

Its current average fleet is 47, with four to be delivered in the third-quarter, and four more in 2011.

OSK Research upgraded its recommendation on AirAsia from neutral to buy. - Bernama