Lufthansa Reports Strong H1 Revenue

Lufthansa released preliminary figures for the first half of 2017, showing a 13 percent revenue rise from last year.

Revenue of EUR€17 billion (USD$19.6 billion) for the six months to end June, beat the €15 billion reported for the previous year period.

Adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) almost doubled to €1.04 billion, from €529 million, allowing the airline to increase its forecast for full year EBIT to better than 2016’s €1.75 billion.

Unit revenues increased 0.5 percent in H1, with unit costs excluding fuel and currency effects falling 1.2 percent on last year.

Lufthansa said it expects organic capacity growth in the second half of 2017 to be 4.7 percent, with unit revenues turning negative. Unit costs excluding fuel and currency effects are also expected to fall slightly, with fuel costs expected to drop by €100 million from last year.

The lease of aircraft to Air Berlin and the consolidation of Brussels Airlines are expected to deliver a small profit contribution, Lufthansa said.