Results still in the red for Air France-Klm, but improving. The Franco-Dutch group reduced losses in the first half of the year to 614 million euros from 799 million in the same period last year and in the second quarter almost reached break-even, scoring -6 million against -158. The operating profit for the quarter also jumped to 238 million from 84 million and in the half-year the operating loss halved to -207 million from -448.
Ebitda stood at 591 million in the half-year from 394 million the year before and at 641 million from 510 million in the quarter. Turnover fell by 1,8% to 12 billion in the half-year and by 1,4% in the quarter to 6,45 billion, also penalized by currency variations. The results of the Franco-Dutch group - as specified in a note - were affected by a 106 million devaluation of the cargo business. The recovery objectives for 2014-2015 have been confirmed, after the downward revision at the beginning of July.
The half-yearly results of Air France-KLM also include among the provisions "a loss in value of 21 million euros on Alitalia securities, as a result of the conversion of the bonds subscribed in December 2013 as part of the financial restructuring of Alitalia, in order to bring this participation at 'fair value'”.
The French-Dutch group, which had been Alitalia's largest shareholder with a 25% stake, did not participate in the recapitalization of the former national airline, diluting its stake to 7% at the end of 2013.
