Domestic carrier Regional Express Holdings Ltd (Rex) has announced on Wednesday that company net profit for 2009/10 would only either match or might even fall a little below than the net profit of $23 million it reported on 2008/09.

Rex said in a statement that basing on its half year earnings, the company's forecast net profit could hover between the range of $21.5 million and $23.0 million for FY2010, which it noted is very proximate to the figures the company netted in the prior year.

The domestic airline attributed the weak sales to falling load factors and revenues in the third quarter notwithstanding the spikes seen in passenger numbers, as it noted that fuel comprised 14.4 percent of total costs in the same period and coming from the 13.8 percent fuel consumption costs in the prior corresponding period.

Rex, which currently services routes in Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, NSW and South Australia, also reported that company profit prior to tax plunged by 41 percent to $4.4 million in the first three months of the year leading to March, coming from the $7.5 million gained a year ago.

The company specified that about $2.61 million sales of one-off items contributed to the first quarter profits which included $1.96 sales of aircraft and $0.65 millions sales of Virgin Blue shares.

Rex also said that passenger numbers for the past nine months leading to March 31 this year declined by 6.2 percent, as compared to the same corresponding period last 2008/09, while the company's load factors slipped by 4.1 percentage points to 62.5 percent.

As of 1041 AEST, Rex shares were trading at $1.05, improving by 0.5 of a cent.