Lufthansa First Quarter Net Loss Widens

Lufthansa Group reported an increased first quarter net loss as its takeover of Brussels Airlines was completed.

Total group revenue rose 11.2 percent to EUR€7.69 billion, as Brussels Air was included in the results for the first time. Operating expenses were up 8.6 percent at €8.24 billion, with group staff costs of €2.08 billion, up 6.3 percent on 2016. Fuel costs were €1.21 billion, a 13 percent rise.

Earnings before interest and tax came in at €16 million, against a loss of €49 million in the same period last year. Net after-tax loss was €68 million, from an €8 million loss in 1Q16.

Group airlines carried 25.2 million passengers in the quarter, a 13 percent rise on last year. RSK (revenue seat kms) traffic was up 11.3 percent on an available seat km (ASK) capacity increase of 9.5 percent, giving a passenger load factor of 76.1 percent, a 1.2 percentage point improvement.

Of the group airlines, SWISS was the only unit to make an EBIT profit. Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and the Point-to-Point carriers which includes Eurowings, Germanwings and now Brussels Airlines, all made losses.

Looking forward, Lufthansa chief financial officer Ulrik Svensson said “Despite our strong first-quarter results and the good forward bookings at our airlines, our full year guidance for 2017 remains unchanged… we do not yet have a sufficient visibility on the bookings in the important third quarter.”

For the full year 2017, Lufthansa said it expects to report substantially higher revenues and an adjusted EBIT slightly below the previous year.