Aer Lingus reports narrowing losses in 1H2010, expects break-even in FY2010

Aer Lingus revenue down 4% - financial/traffic highlights:

• Three months ended 30-Jun-2010:
  • Revenue: EUR308.0 million, -4.0% year-on-year;
    • Ancillary: EUR42.1 million, -8.9%;
  • Operating costs: EUR289.2 million, -14.7%;
    • Fuel: EUR77.2 million, -17.9%;
    • Labour: EUR68.4 million, -13.0%;
  • Operating profit: EUR18.8 million, compared with a loss of EUR18.2 million in p-c-p;
  • Profit before tax: EUR15.4 million, compared with a loss of EUR13.8 million in p-c-p;
  • Passenger numbers: 2.4 million, -16.6%;
  • Passenger load factor: 76.7%, +1.2 ppt;
  • Average yield per passenger: EUR106.16, +14.3%;
• Six months ended 30-Jun-2010:
  • Revenue: EUR538.0 million, -3.1%;
    • Ancillary: EUR80.7 million, -3.9%;
  • Operating costs: EUR557.0 million, -14.0%;
    • Fuel: EUR132.1 million, -30.3%;
    • Labour: EUR135.7 million, -10.8%;
  • Operating profit (loss): (EUR19.0 million), compared with a loss of EUR93.0 million in p-c-p;
  • Profit (loss) before tax: (EUR20.8 million), compared with a loss of EUR81.7 million in p-c-p;
  • Passenger numbers: 4.4 million, -10.9%;
  • Passenger load factor: 73.2%, +0.6 ppt;
  • Average yield per passenger: EUR98.66, +8.0%;
  • Operating cash flow: EUR99.8 million, compared with a negative cash flow of EUR90.017 million in p-c-p;
  • Total assets: EUR2,030 million, +17.3% when compared with period ended 31-Dec-2009;
  • Cash and cash equivalents: EUR5.4 million, -61.1% when compared with period ended 31-Dec-2009;
  • Total liabilities: EUR1,258 million, +22.7% when compared with period ended 31-Dec-2009. [more]

Aer Lingus: "For the 2010 full year, we expect to report an operating performance (before exceptional items) of no worse than break even. This would represent a good performance in difficult market conditions but is predicated on the delivery of committed staff productivity savings and no further significant disruptions to operations from industrial action or airspace closures. Looking to 2011, it remains too early to provide firm guidance on the group's expected performance. Yields and passenger volumes will be dependent on the economic outlook in our main markets which remains uncertain. However, we expect ongoing improvement in our cost base in 2011 as we continue to implement the greenfield cost reduction programme," Christoph Mueller, CEO. Source: Aer Lingus, 24-Aug-2010.