IAG sets ambitious goals for 2016-20, including regular dividend, and declares its confidence

IAG and its CEO Willie Walsh are becoming increasingly confident. The group's new plan for 2016 to 2020 aims to achieve operating profit margins in the range 10% to 14%, with each of the operating airlines also reaching this level. To illustrate how ambitious this target is, IAG's 2013 margin was 4.1% and British Airways' cyclical peak margin was 10.0% in 2007/08, before the merger with Iberia. The latter did not record a margin in excess of 8% in the decade before the merger and has been in loss since, although it should be back in profit in 2014. Vueling, the most profitable of IAG's airlines, recorded a margin of 9.7% in 2013.

The achievement of this margin range would allow IAG to beat its cost of capital. This would be rare in an industry that typically destroys value, an unfortunate fact that Mr Walsh recognises. Nevertheless, he says, "we are in this business to exceed our cost of capital and to remunerate shareholders". He identifies the keys to IAG's future success as capacity discipline and cost discipline.

IAG's recent capital markets day set out what it sees as the key drivers of profit improvement.