Malaysia's AirAsia X shares hit 2-month low on weaker Q2 earnings

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Shares of Malaysia's AirAsia X Bhd dropped as much as 6.7 percent on Wednesday to their lowest since July 22, after the long-haul arm of Asia's biggest low cost carrier by passengers, AirAsia Bhd , reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The stock ended the morning session lower 4.88 percent at 78 sen, underperforming the broader index's <.KLSE> 0.06 percent rise. "First half of 2014 core net loss of 225 million ringgit already exceeded our previous full-year loss estimate due to weaker-than-expected yields," CIMB Research said in a report on Wednesday. "We more than double our loss forecasts for 2014-2015." The research house also cut its target price for AirAsia X to 72 sen per share from 75 sen and downgraded the stock to "reduce" from "hold". AirAsia X on Tuesday reported a net loss of 128.8 million ringgit for the April-June period, versus a net loss of 32.3 million ringgit a year ago, due to higher operating costs and weaker yields. Revenue, however, rose 36.7 percent year-on-year to 671.6 million ringgit. (http://bit.ly/1tgk1kH) (Reporting By Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)