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Portugal's TAP profit falls on foreign exchange losses

Portuguese airline TAP said on Thursday its secondquarter net earnings fell 10% to 72.2 million euros ($ 80.3 million), as foreign exchange losses from the decline of the Brazilian real offset an operating earnings increase.

The state-owned flag provider's operating earnings increased 3.4% to 1.1 billion euros throughout the duration, with passenger incomes up 0.8% to 986.4 million euros.

TAP stated net profit was affected by forex losses following the devaluation of the Brazilian real.

Chief Executive Luis Rodrigues stated in a declaration that TAP stayed on the essential course of structural transformation.

We continue the path we set out to follow, with the commitment of our people and the assistance of our stakeholders, to develop TAP as a sustainably lucrative company and one of the most appealing business in the industry, he stated.

The airline company's operating expense fell 0.8% to 938.6 million euros, in spite of an 18% dive in wage costs as it reversed pay cuts enforced under a hard restructuring plan.

Passenger numbers rose 2.2% to around 4.2 million.

TAP's repeating revenues before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 19.6% to 289 million euros and its EBITDA margin - a procedure of profitability - rose to 26.1% from 22.6% a year back.

In July, Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz said that the centre-right federal government wanted to privatise TAP earlier rather than later on to make the most of market interest in the airline and was moving on with preparatory work.

TAP has actually up until now attracted interest from Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways owner IAG.

(source: Reuters)