Aeroplan's fourth-quarter profit jumps

TORONTO (Reuters) - Aeroplan Income Fund AER_u.TO, which holds a minority stake in Air Canada's (ACa.TO: Quote) frequent flyer points program, said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit jumped 34 percent as gross billings rose.

The fund earned C$51.7 million, or 26 Canadian cents per unit, in the period ended December 31, up from C$38.5 million, or 13 Canadian cents a unit, for the same quarter of 2006.

Revenue for the quarter was C$221.6 million, up from C$208.4 million for the same time last year.

Analysts were expecting an average of 28.5 Canadian cents a unit on revenue of C$234.1 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Gross billings from the sale of Aeroplan miles were C$248.4 million, up 9.6 percent from C$226.7 million in the 2006 quarter.

The fund's distributable cash, the money it used for monthly payments to unitholders, was C$59.4 million, or 30 Canadian cents a unit, up from C$53 million, or 27 Canadian cents a unit in the previous year.

($1=$0.99 Canadian)

(Reporting by Scott Anderson; Editing by Renato Andrade)