The parent company of Iberia and Vueling leaves the losses and earns 199 million until September

IAG, the group that owns Iberia, Vueling, British Airways or Air Lingus, leaves losses behind after having accumulated red numbers of almost 10,000 million euros during the pandemic.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
28 October 2022 Friday 00:39
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The parent company of Iberia and Vueling leaves the losses and earns 199 million until September

IAG, the group that owns Iberia, Vueling, British Airways or Air Lingus, leaves losses behind after having accumulated red numbers of almost 10,000 million euros during the pandemic. The holding company has earned 199 million euros until September, compared to losses of 2,622 million in the same period of 2021.

As a whole, the airlines of the group obtained revenues of 16,680 million, three times more than the 4,921 million in 2021. From ticket sales they invoiced 14,020 million, about 5 times more than the 3,140 million last year. Total income amounted to 16,680 million euros. Expenses also increased significantly, in line with the recovery in activity: €15.91 billion through September compared to €7.408 billion in 2021.

IAG's global passenger capacity plans are around 87% compared to 2019 for the fourth quarter and around 78% for the full year of 2022. For the beginning of 2023, the group expects a further recovery, until almost touching the capacity of 2019, the year before the covid air crisis.

“In the third quarter of this year we again achieved solid results, with an operating profit of €1.2 billion and liquidity of more than €13 billion. All of our airlines were significantly profitable capacity and load factor continue to recover.

Demand in the vacation segment is particularly strong and revenues have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Business travel continues to recover steadily," said IAG CEO Luis Gallego in a communication to the CNMV.

Despite the evident recovery, the group identifies some risks in the sector. "Although demand levels remain strong, we are aware of the economic uncertainties and the pressure on domestic consumption. In this context, we are focused on adapting our operations to meet demand, strengthen our balance sheet by rebuilding our profitability and cash flow. cash, as well as take advantage of our high liquidity. This will allow us to allocate capital and invest in a disciplined way in our services and in our employees to increase our capacity and enable future growth," he stresses.

IAG is in the process of acquiring Air Europa and faces a cabin crew strike at one of its airlines, Vueling, starting next week. The company has specified that at current levels of fuel prices and currency exchange rates, it expects to record an operating profit before exceptional items of approximately €1.1 billion in 2022.

Net cash flows from operating activities are expected to be significantly positive for the year. This is based on the fact that "new setbacks related to COVID-19 or material impacts derived from geopolitical events" are not expected.

The holding company expects net debt to increase at the end of the year, due to seasonal booking patterns and capital expenditure related to aircraft deliveries in the fourth quarter.