LATAM concludes it has achieved a successful turnaround in its Brazilian operations

Latin America's powerhouse LATAM Airlines Group believes it has turned a corner in its Brazilian operations after enduring weak margin conditions within Brazil's domestic environment since the merger of LAN and TAM officially closed a little over a year ago.

The company's overall 3Q2013 results were somewhat buoyed by a 19% improvement in Brazilian domestic unit revenues year-on-year as LATAM slashed its supply within Brazil by 6% during the quarter. For the 9M2013 time period LATAM's ASKs within Brazil contracted by 9%.

While the rebound within Brazil in commendable LATAM still faces challenges with respect to the devaluing of the BRL, which fell 13% during 3Q2013 against the USD. LATAM is attempting to blunt the effects of currency fluctuations through hedging schemes and transitioning TAM's debt to the LATAM balance sheet, which is denominated in the USD.