Lufthansa: sees rebound after 'weak' first quarter
(CercleFinance.com) - German carrier Lufthansa said on Tuesday that it expects to increase unit revenues in the second quarter after a "weak" first quarter.
The airline group made an adjusted EBIT loss of 336 million euros in the first quarter, due to an increase in fuel costs and a fall in unit revenues in Europe.
"Overcapacities, especially on short- and medium-haul European routes, substantially depressed our first-quarter earnings," said CFO Ulrik Svensson.
Total revenues for the first quarter rose by 3% to 7.9 billion euros.
For 2019 as a whole, Lufthansa said it still expects to post year-on-year revenue growth of "a mid-single-digit percentage amount."
"Much depends on whether the second-quarter rebound indicated by forward bookings comes through and is sustained into the third-quarter peak," analysts at Liberum warned.
The Lufthansa share was down 1.5% in Frankfurt this morning after these results were published.
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