(Adds comments on potential Spanair buy, Vueling/Clickair merger)
MADRID (Thomson Financial) - Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA. Chairman Fernando Conte said the airline has not started to hedge its oil costs for 2009 and it is still 47 percent hedged for 2008.
During a conference call with analysts on first-quarter results, Conte said the airline is working on an assumption of oil prices at $110 per barrel for the rest of the year.
As to the possible acquisition of SAS AB's Spanair, for which Iberia lodged a bid in February jointly with private aviation group Gestair, Conte said they are still 'waiting for SAS to make a decision'.
The chairman noted that the sector's outlook 'has toughened' from when Iberia initially made its offer.
As to a possible future merger between the flag carrier's 20-percent owned Clickair and Vueling Airlines SA., Conte said talks are still ongoing.
'Shareholder talks are still taking place,' he said, noting that if the companies do merge some restructuring will be done in light of soaring fuel costs.
'We are pretty optimistic on costs (savings),' he said.
Iberia said earlier in the day that it swung to a net loss of 441,000 euros in the first quarter to March from a 12.2 million euro profit a year earlier, due mainly to soaring fuel costs and a lower dollar exchange rate.
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