Lufthansa, quarter with falling profits due to rising costs

Lufthansa aims to start cooperation with Ita Airways by the beginning of 2025. CEO Carsten Spohr said this during a conference call on the occasion of the presentation of the third-quarter figures: '4 November is the next deadline with the European Commission, to submit the required remedy measures for long- and short-haul. The closing could come around the beginning of next year and we expect to start the cooperation in early 2025'. The ceo did not go into the details of the requested measures, which include, among others, the sale of part of the slots at Linate and some long-haul destinations from Rome.

Speaking about the third quarter results with declining profits due to rising costs and competition in Asia, the CEO commented that Lufthansa's turnover in the third quarter reached a 'record level in the group's history' and 'as a group from an economic perspective the trend is positive. Now the challenges lie with the Lufthansa Airlines brand' where 'the negative trend' in adjusted operating profit 'must be reversed'.

The group's airlines, which include not only Lufthansa but also Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Eurowings, generated an operating profit of EUR 1.2 billion in the third quarter, down from EUR 1.4 billion in the same period of 2023 due to a EUR 234 million decrease in the result of its core brand Lufthansa Airlines.

German airline Lufthansa has confirmed its full-year guidance, plans to increase capacity in the fourth quarter and post a positive operating result for the last three months of 2024. Sales for the three months to September stood at EUR 10.7 billion compared to USD 10.2 billion last year, but with net profits at EUR 1.1 billion down 8 per cent (profits down 48 per cent since the beginning of the year).

Rising personnel costs, delays in aircraft delivery and growing competition from the Middle East and Asia weighed on the carrier. The Frankfurt-listed stock opened 2.5 per cent lower on the stock exchange.