Air France-KLM rises with optimism of green shoots, Lufthansa and British Airways gain
Shares in Air France-KLM gained 2.1% yesterday, forecasting it will see some 'green shoots' by the end of 2009. The carrier expected to see "limited deterioration" in conditions in 2Q2009/10, achieving stability in the last two quarters, with even a slight improvement by the end of the year (see below).
Lufthansa's shares rose up 2.6% yesterday as the Frankfurt DAX closed 2.45% higher. Divisions with Fraport, in which it owns 9.1% have emerged.
British Airways gained 0.8% yesterday, as it entering a 14-day "cooling-off period" from union negotiations with Unite. The carrier is again attempting to reach an agreement on employee pay cuts.
Europe selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 23-Jul-09
Improvement at the end of the year - edited Air France-KLM press release
Deterioration in the economic environment noted at the end of 4Q2008/09 continued during the subsequent three months. As a result, revenues for the Air France-KLM Group for 1Q2009/10, ended 30-Jun-09, recorded a decline of 20.5% year-on-year to EUR5.19 billion.
Revenues in the passenger business fell by 18.7% year-on-year to EUR4.01 billion in 1Q2009/10, on the back of a 4.7% reduction in capacity (ASKs), a 5.8% drop in traffic (RPKs) and a 14.5% decline in unit revenue per RPK.
The cargo business continues to be particularly affected by the crisis. Cargo revenues recorded a drop of 41.5% year-on-year to EUR544 million due to a decline in traffic of 22.7% for a 17.2% reduction in capacity. Unit revenue per RTK declined by 25.1%.
"The Group's revenues reflect a continuation of the trend of 4Q2008/09, ended 31-Mar-09, in line with our expectations. We maintain our assumption of a more limited deterioration in the second quarter and stability in the last two quarters, with even a slight improvement at the end of the year compared with the 2H2008/09, itself already impacted by the crisis".