ZCZC
BCN-23
BRITAIN-SPAIN-AVIATION-EARNINGS-BUSINESS-IAG
BA owner says quarterly net profits tumble
LONDON, May 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – IAG, the parent group of British Airways
and Spanish carrier Iberia, reported on Friday a collapse in first-quarter
net profit amid soaring fuel costs and fierce competition.
Profit after tax nosedived 91-percent to just 70 million euros ($78
million) in the first three months of the year from 794 million euros in the
first quarter of 2018, IAG revealed in a results statement.
Fuel costs rose 15.8 percent in the reporting period and revenues were up
nearly six percent to 5.3 billion euros.
A key industry measure of performance, passenger unit revenue per
available seat kilometre, slid 0.8 percent on the back of increased market
capacity.
Demand was also dented by the later timing of Easter compared with 2018.
IAG, which also owns Irish airline Aer Lingus, added that operating profit
before exceptional items slid 60 percent to 135 million euros.
“In a quarter when European airlines were significantly affected by fuel
and foreign exchange headwinds, market capacity impacting yield and the
timing of Easter, we remained profitable,” said Chief Executive Willie Walsh
in the earnings release.
The airline repeated that it expects operating profit to be flat in 2019,
owing partly to the high cost of kerosene or jet fuel.
The IAG results came one week after Dutch-French carrier Air France-KLM
logged deepening first-quarter net losses as it also buckled under the
pressure of higher fuel costs and competition.
BSS/AFP/HR/1400