The share price of Air China, China's largest air carrier, closed up at midday Wednesday in Shanghai against widespread losses across the board, after the company announced an expected return to profit in 2009.

The company's stock price edged up 1.26 percent to end at 11.22 yuan (1.64 U.S. dollars), while the board slid 1.04 percent in the morning trading session.

Preliminary accounts had moved into the black in 2009, buoyed by a steady growth in the domestic market and cost reductions stemming from a lower oil price, the company said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange late Tuesday.

It said specific figures would be revealed in the annual business report, but it did not disclose when the report would be released.

The company posted a loss of 9.1 billion yuan (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) in net profit in 2008, as global downturn slashed demand both at home and abroad, according to the statement.

The country's civil aviation industry moved out of the red and began to report overall profits in 2009, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced on Jan. 13.

Civil aviation firms reported total profits of 12.2 billion yuan, compared with 2008's losses of 26 billion yuan, according to the CAAC.