Gol To Cut Capacity After Heavy Q4 Loss

March 30, 2016

Brazilian airline Gol reported a quarterly net loss of BRR1.130 billion reais (USD$311 million), 79 percent bigger than its loss a year earlier.

Gol Linhas Aereas has posted a loss in every quarter of the past four years. Its net loss in 2015 nearly tripled from a year earlier to BRR4.291 billion reais.

Fourth-quarter EBITDA earnings dropped 92 percent from a year earlier to BRR22 million reais.

Excluding aircraft rental costs, which are often denominated in US dollars, EBITDAR dropped 17 percent to BRR399 million reais.

To cut costs in the face of stiff inflation and shrinking demand, Gol said it planned to reduce departures by between 15 and 18 percent in 2016, deepening cuts from a prior forecast of cutting 4 to 6 percent in the first half of the year.

Capacity, in available-seat-km, is now expected to fall between 5 percent and 8 percent this year.

(Reuters)