Lufthansa takes off and collects the first operating profit since the pandemic broke out. The German company beat all expectations for the quarter, recording a operating profit of 17 million euros against a loss of 1,3 billion euros in the previous year and against the loss of 33 million expected by analysts. THE revenues they have almost doubled to 5,2 billion, slightly below the forecast of 5,5 billion euros. The prospects are once again optimistic for the aviation sector. In this context, Lufthansa shares are trading at 6,17 euros with an increase of more than 4% at 10 am.
A result achieved thanks to the easing of travel restrictions due to the pandemic crisis and the strong demand during the summer season. Bookings are almost back to pre-crisis levels, Lufthansa said, with strong sales in premium classes. Then the boom in demand in recent weeks, with a 51% increase in bookings thanks to theopening of US borders to European travelers from Monday 8 November.
In the fourth quarter, the group expects earnings to remain positive, with a full-year loss below last year's level. But not only has the surge in transatlantic travel spurred a recovery, Lufthansa's cargo business also helped post record earnings of 301 million euros for the quarter.
Furthermore, the airline group underlined that it has completed a capital increase of over 2 billion euros, with which it intends to repay the loan obtained from the Berlin government in the summer of 2020, to deal with the pandemic crisis.
With this in mind, Lufthansa has decided to cut about 30 jobs to save 3,5 billion euros, going from 138 thousand to 107 thousand employees globally with the aim of "ensuring the long-term employment of over 100 thousand people" in the group.
