Lufthansa improves results for first half-year

The Lufthansa Group reports solid business development for the first half of 2015 and improved results in all of its operating segments. The Adjusted EBIT rose by €290m year-on-year to €468m. For the six months ended June 30th, sales increased by 8.5% to €15.4bn, with traffic revenue accounting for €12.1bn of that figure. The Group’s net result for the first six months of the year rose to €954m, compared with a net loss of €79m for the same period in the prior year. In addition to a higher operating result, this is mainly due to the increase in the financial result. More than half of the Group’s net result was attributable to an accounting effect resulting from the appreciation in equity capital of €503m following the redemption of the Jet-Blue convertible bond in the first quarter. In the second quarter, assessments of interest and exchange rate hedging instruments as well as fuel hedging options had a positive impact, increasing the result by a total of €176m. Frst half, operating cash-flow rose by almost 45% to €2.5bn. At the end of the first half-year, a free cash flow of just over €1bn was reported – almost double that of the previous year. Against this background, net indebtedness decreased substantially by 31% compared to the full-year 2014.