Lufthansa: nine-month profit down; shares dive

(CercleFinance.com) - Lufthansa reported a fall in profit for the first nine months of 2018 after fuel costs "substantially" rose in the period.


Europe's biggest airline said it achieved adjusted EBIT of 2.4 billion euros for the first nine months of the year - down 7.7% year-on-year.

The group said results were burdened by a 536 million euro increase in fuel costs, higher costs due to flight delays and cancellations and higher maintenance expenses, it said.

Lufthansa confirmed its full-year earnings projection for 2018: the group still expects to post a slight increase in unit revenues for the year.

All in all, full-year 2018 earnings forecasts remain unchanged, at "slightly below previous year," the airline said.

In the first nine months of 2018, Lufthansa generated total revenues of 26.9 billion euros, up 6% from the previous year.

The shares are down 8% at 17.2 euros in early-morning trading today.

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