Lufthansa records 7.7% revenue decline in 9 months

Lufthansa Group achieved an Adjusted Earning Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) of EUR 2.4 billion for the first nine months of 2018 - a 7.7 percent decline on the prior-year period which is primarily attributable to the integration costs at Eurowings.

Adjusted EBIT margin for the period amounted to 8.8 percent.

This was contained in the results of the company made available to journalists.

The German mega carrier said the ninemonth results were also burdened by a EUR 536 million rise in fuel costs, an increase in the costs incurred in connection with flight delays and cancellations, and higher maintenance expenses.

Lufthansa Group generated total revenues of EUR 26.9 billion in the first nine months of 2018.

Total revenues increased by 6 percent on the prior-year period, while traffic revenues were up 7 percent. As a result of the first-time adoption of the new IFRS 15 accounting standard, the reported growth of total revenues to EUR 26.9 billion was only 0.5 percent, while the reported traffic revenues declined by 1 percent to EUR 21.1 billion.

Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG said, “We expect to see our full-year costs increase by more than EUR 1 billion in 2018 due to fuel costs and the extra expenses incurred from delays and cancellations alone.”