Last checked at 
* Q4 core pretax 941 mln SEK vs consensus 745 mln
* Q1 profit "significantly down" y/y due fuel costs, loweryield
* CEO: Hiring staff outside Scandinavia would cap labourcosts (Adds CEO comment)
STOCKHOLM, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The ailing and partly-stateowned airline SAS is extending cost cuts andconsidering establishing operations outside its Scandinavianhome market to cap spending in the face of cut-price competitionacross Europe.
Chief Executive Rickard Gustafson said the plans come on theback of expectations of growing leisure travel in Europe.
"Customers' perception is that a flight in Europe should costa few hundred crowns and we need to ensure we can meet that," hetold Reuters. "We need to have a cost structure that is entirelycompetitive regardless if the competitor's name is Easyjet,Ryanair, KLM, Air France or whichever."
Gustafson said basing aircraft and employing pilots andcabin staff at leisure destinations in Europe, such as Londonand the Mediterranean, would lower labour costs. SAS would givemore details on the plans in the second half of 2017, he said.
"This will perhaps be a complement to what we do in order tosecure what we have up here, but the growth may come outsideScandinavia," he said.
SAS, which has suffered for years under intense competitionfrom budget carriers, said that due to tougher market conditionsit now planned to save 1.5 billion Swedish crowns ($164 million)in 2017-2019, up from previously planned 0.8 billion.
The company reported on Tuesday a profit before tax andextraordinary items in the August-October period, its fiscalfourth quarter, of 941 million crowns, down from a year-ago 1.3billion and above a Reuters poll forecast of 745 million.
It warned that first-quarter profit would be significantlybelow last year's due to higher fuel costs and a lower yield.
($1 = 9.1572 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
