Lufthansa, Air France-KLM post better earnings 3Q

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Luftnasa, Air France-KLM have all exceeded third-quarter expectations, in the results declared.

Lufthansa’s bottom-line net profit soared by 30 percent to 642 million euros ($832 million) in the period from July to September.

Analysts had been expecting a drop of as much as 40 percent.

Underlying or operating profit rose by 6.2 percent to 648 million euros on a 6.2-percent increase in revenues to 8.312 billion euros in the three-month period.

Taking the nine months to September, net profit jumped 65 percent to 474 million euros, but operating profit was down 13 percent at 628 million euros, despite a 6.1-percent increase in revenues to 22.8 billion euros.

Air France- KLM also declared a net profit of 308 million euros ($399 million) owing to higher passenger traffic and favourable exchange rates.

The Franco-Dutch group said operating profit was 506 million euros for the third quarter and turnover was up 6.0 percent to 7.2 billion euros.

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Net profit rose to 306 million euros and the net debt was reduced. Analysts interviewed by DowJones Newswires had forecast net profits of 267 million euros.

The company said the third quarter was “satisfactory” in all spheres excepting the cargo business.

“In passenger, the limited capacity increase in the industry led to an improvement in unit revenues, which, for the group, were also helped by a positive foreign exchange effect due to the depreciation of the euro versus other currencies,” a statement said.

“The group enjoyed a good summer season in its passenger business, with traffic up by 0.9 percent,” it said.

Air France-KLM was more than 957 million euros in the red in the first nine months of the year.

The cheering results by Lufthansa pushed up its shares on the stock exchange, after the German airline promised to intensify cost-cutting measures.

Lufthansa shares were the biggest gainers on Frankfurt’s blue-chip DAX 30 index, soaring 5.55 percent while the overall market was only modestly higher by 0.59 percent.

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