Profit at German aviation group Lufthansa plunged in the second quarter, the firm said Tuesday, as higher jet fuel costs hit earnings.
Excluding one-off effects, core profit fell almost 56 per cent to 383 million euros ($440 million), Lufthansa said, even as sales rose 10 per cent to 11.1 billion euros in the three months to the end of June.
Higher fuel prices increased costs by about 750 million euros, the operator of the Swiss, Brussels, Eurowings and Lufthansa airlines said.
“The second quarter was characterized by exceptionally high fuel costs and heightened geopolitical uncertainty,” Lufthansa chief financial officer Till Streichert said.
“We are confident that the consistent execution of our strategy, cost discipline, network optimisations and persistently high demand will offset a significant portion of the cost increases,” he added.
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The news makes Lufthansa the latest airline to have been hit by soaring jet fuel costs as the war in the Middle East rumbles on, disrupting supplies of petrochemical products down the Strait of Hormuz.
British Airways parent IAG on Friday said net profit fell more than a third, and Air France-KLM, Easyjet, American Airlines and Ryanair last month all reported nosediving profits on the war.
Lufthansa adjusted its outlook for the year, saying it sees core profit in 2026 of between 1.7 and 2.2 billion euros.
It had previously expected core profit to be “significantly” above last year’s figure of 1.96 billion euros.
AFP
