March 5, 2010
German airline group Deutsche Lufthansa AG said Tuesday it lost euro112 million ($152 million) in 2009 as the industry struggled with low demand and weaker premium traffic sales through the economic downturn.
The loss compared with a net profit of euro542 million in 2008.
The Cologne-based company, Europe’s largest airline by sales, said operating profit fell 90 percent to euro130 million from euro1.3 billion in 2008.
In what it called “a difficult financial year,” Lufthansa said 2009 revenue fell 10 percent to euro22.3 billion compared with euro24.8 billion in 2008.
Given the net loss, the executive board will propose not to distribute a dividend for the financial year 2009, the company said Tuesday.
Lufthansa did not provide a more detailed report or fourth quarter figures, but is scheduled to release its full 2009 earnings on March 11.
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The company has said earnings for the last quarter and year would be substantially lower as it battles the effects of the downturn, which has caused demand for passenger and freight traffic to fall. Sales of lucrative first and business class tickets have also been hit as passengers opt for cheaper economy class seats.
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