LONDON (dpa-AFX) - International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. (IAG.L, ICAGY), formed by the merger of British Airways plc and Spanish flag carrier Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana S.A., reported Friday that profit for the second quarter increased from last year, reflecting double-digit passenger revenue growth.
The Group performance comprised British Airways, Iberia (including Iberia Express) and Spanish discount carrier Vueling Airlines, S.A, of which IAG owns 90.51 percent.
For the quarter, profit before tax increased 25.4 percent to 449 million euros from 358 million euros in the prior-year quarter.
Profit after tax for the quarter also grew 27.6 percent to 358 million euros from 280 million euros in the year-ago quarter.
Operating profit surged 39.5 percent to 530 million euros from 380 million euros in the prior-year quarter.
Total revenue for the quarter improved 11.2 percent to 5.66 billion euros from 5.08 billion euros in the same quarter last year. However, revenue was down 1.2 percent at constant currency.
Passenger revenues improved 10.9 percent to 5.0 billion euros, cargo revenue increased 8.8 percent to 259 million euros, and other revenues grew 17.6 percent to 394 million euros from the year-ago quarter.
British Airways' operating profit improved to 453 million euros from 332 million euros a year ago.
Iberia made an operating profit of 51 million euros, up from 16 million euros last year.
However, Vueling's operating profit declined to 24 million euros from 24 million euros last year.
IAG said that second-quarter group traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, improved 5.5 percent to 54.98 billion from the same period last year.
Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, also climbed 5.5 percent to 68.14 billion from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the airline's total passenger seat factor - proportion of available seats filled against the capacity - remained flat with last year at 80.7 percent.
For the first half, pre-tax profit soared to 412 million euros from 155 million euros in th eprior-year period.
First-half profit after tax was 332 million euros, sharply higher than 96 million euros last year. Earnings per share also soared to 15.4 euro cents from last year's 4.2 euro cents.
Total revenue for the period improved 11.6 percent to 10.36 billion euros from 9.29 billion euros in the same period last year.
Looking ahead, the firm said that at current fuel prices and foreign exchange rates, it still expects to generate an operating profit in excess of 2.2 billion euros.
In Friday's regular trading session in London, IAG.L is currently trading on the LSE at 546.50 pence, up 4.50 pence or 0.83% on a volume of 0.91 million shares.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX