Kenya Airways H1 hit by oil price, political crisis

NAIROBI, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Kenya Airways (KQNA.NR) reported on Thursday a 63 percent drop in pretax profit for the six months ended September 2008 to 1.05 billion shillings ($13.1 million) from 2.8 billion in the first half last year.

The company, one of Africa's leading carriers, blamed the fall on a combination of a strong local currency during the period, high prices of oil, and the effects of Kenya's post-election crisis in January and February.

"We have remained profitable, despite the circumstances," chief executive Titus Naikuni told investors. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri, editing by Will Waterman)