Lufthansa posts operating profit of €628m for first nine months

In the first nine months of the year, the Lufthansa Group generated an operating result of €628m, €96m less than in the first nine months of last year. Profits were hit particularly hard by record fuel prices. The persistently intense price pressure, the air traffic tax and the costs of EU emissions trading certificates also impacted on earnings. Christoph Franz, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said, “Despite strong headwinds, the Lufthansa Group has generated a respectable result, especially in comparison with the rest of the industry. The earnings contributions from our service segments were particularly helpful. The first projects in our SCORE programme are also having an effect. We are making progress on the costs within our control. However, that is not enough to earn adequate margins.” The Group increased its revenue by 6.1% to € 22.8bn and the net profit for the period of €474m was 64.6% higher than the previous year, which was characterised by one-off effects. At the end of the third quarter, the service segments were all profitable and better than last year. As in prior quarters, they boosted the consolidated operating result. The MRO segment increased its operating profit to € 227m. The Catering and IT Services segments also reported operating profits of €73m and €13m respectively.