Delta Air Lines announces June quarter profit

Delta’s net profit for the June 2013 quarter was $844m, excluding special items. This result is a record June quarter profit excluding special items and is a $258m improvement year-over-year. Including $159m in special items, Delta’s GAAP net income was $685m. The company announced a balanced capital deployment plan, targeted at creating up to $5bn of value for shareholders by 2017 through further debt reduction and the return of more than $1bn to shareholders over the next three years by means of $200m of annual dividends and a $500m share repurchase program. June quarter results include $118m of profit sharing expense in recognition of Delta employees’ contributions to the company’s financial performance. Delta generated $1.3bn of operating cash flow and $730m of free cash flow in the June 2013 quarter, and ended the period with adjusted net debt of $10.2 billion.