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Air France-KLM reports profit rise in Q3

Xinhua, October 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

After reporting net losses in the first two quarters of 2015, Air France-KLM posted a rise of profit in the third quarter, the Franco-Dutch airline said on Thursday.

Air France-KLM had a net profit of 480 million euros (525 million U.S. dollars) in Q3, up from a revised 86 million euros in the same period one year ago. Earnings before interest and tax rose to 898 million euros from 247 million euros in the corresponding period in 2014.

The company reported a net loss of 559 million euros in the first quarter of 2015 and in Q2 a net loss of 79 million euros, making the net loss in the first nine months of the year 158 million euros in total.

According to Air France-KLM, the third quarter comparison with last year was strongly affected by the Air France pilot strike that disrupted operations in September 2014.

Revenues went up by 10.8 percent, from 6.695 billion euros in the third quarter of 2014 to 7.415 billion in the same period this year. Corrected for the strike impact, the revenues increased by 4.2 percent mainly as a result of a strong currency tailwind, while total revenues were down by 2.4 percent like-for-like.

"A favorable environment, principally characterized by lower fuel prices and strong demand over the summer, resulted in an improvement of Air France-KLM's results during the third quarter of 2015", said CEO Alexandre de Juniac in a statement. "This improvement is however not sufficient to bridge the competitiveness gap with our competitors or to generate the financial resources required to finance the Group's growth."

Despite the good figures in Q3, Air France-KLM needs more cost-cutting, according to De Juniac. Once again, the CEO urged the French unions to follow the example of the Dutch unions and accept the Perform 2020 five-year restructuring plan. "The management invites union representatives to resume negotiations as soon as possible as they are crucial for the success of this plan," he said. Endit