Lufthansa: six-month operating result in line; shares up

(CercleFinance.com) - Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa posted a 3% drop in its operating result for the first six months of the year, in line with analysts' expectations.


The airline's Ebit fell to 1.010 billion euros from 1.031 billion a year ago, the carrier said in a statement on Tuesday.

Total revenues rose 5.2% to 16.9 billion euros, on a record number of passengers and flights, as well as seat load factors, while net profit inched up to 677 million euros.

Lufthansa said the burden imposed by higher fuel costs has been offset by structural cost reductions.

The airline said it still expects full-year adjusted EBIT to be only slightly below the record level in 2017, although this guidance "should be positively received by market" according to UBS analysts.

Lufthansa shares were up 6.5% at 23.6 euros, largely outperforming the DAX, which is currently almost flat, up just 0.1%. Air France-KLM and IAG were up 3% and 2.5%, respectively.

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