LONDON (Reuters) – International Airlines Group (IAG) reported third-quarter operating profit up 15% on Friday, beating analysts’ expectations, as the group expressed optimism about travel demand , while forecasting good financial performance for the rest of the year.
The owner of British Airways recorded an operating profit of 2 billion euros, well above the expectations of analysts, who expected 1.78 billion euros in a consensus provided by the group.
Thanks to the increase in ticket prices and the reduction in fuel prices, the group was able to make savings which offset the increase in payroll.
IAG, which also owns Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, also announced a €350 million share buyback on Friday.
“Demand remains strong across all of our airlines and we expect a strong final quarter of 2024 financially,” CEO Luis Gallego said in a statement.
IAG’s outperformance contrasts with rivals such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, which struggled over the summer due to rising costs.
Lufthansa announced last week a 9% drop in its quarterly profit due to increased costs and aircraft delivery delays, while Air France reported on Thursday a larger than expected drop in its quarterly profit and also warned that costs would be higher than expected.
(Report Sarah Young, Etienne Breban, edited by Augustin Turpin)
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