BA owner hit with fuel cost and currency headwinds
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group ( IAG) was hit by rocketing fuel costs and foreign exchange headwinds in the first quarter.
The firm reported a 60.3 per cent slump in operating profit before exceptional items to € 135 million (£ 116.6m), compared to € 340m in the same period last year.
Profit after tax and except i onal i t e ms was 91 . 2 p e r cent lower at € 70m. This was despite a 5.9 per cent increased in total revenue to € 5.3 billion.
Passenger revenue per available s eat kil ometre, a key industry metric for profitability, was down 0.8 per cent to 6.16 euro cents, versus 6.21 cents last year.
Chief executive Willie Walsh, who has previously warned over Brexit, said: “In a quarter when European airlines were significantly affected by fuel and foreign exchange headwinds, market capacity impacting yield and the timing of Easter, we remained profitable and are reporting an operating profit of € 135m.”