Sad half-year result 2009 with Austrian Airlines Group

Austrian Airlines result reflects crisis

The result of the Austrian Airlines Group reflects the crisis of the international aviation industry, which has become even fiercer in the second quarter of 2009. The first half year-result 2009 amounted to minus EUR 166.6 million. One of the reasons therefore is the write-down of aircrafts at the amount of EUR 74.3 million. The adjusted operative result was minus EUR 88.4 million; the second quarter (minus EUR 18.1 million) clearly beat the first quarter (minus EUR 70.3 million). The profit zone, however, is still out of reach.

Operative cash-flow developed from minus EUR 13.8 million in the first quarter 2009 to plus EUR 35 million in the second quarter. Thus this item amounted to a total of EUR 21.2 million in the first six months. Liquidity is secured with around EUR 180 million on the closing day of the balance sheet (30 June 2009). Moreover, cost-cutting measures and the integration into the Lufthansa Group contribute earnings of more than EUR 300 million per year.

“We are troubled with the extremely low demand, just like the whole industry,“ Austrian CEOs Peter Malanik and Andreas Bierwirth explain their current situation in a press release. “Of course we can’t be satisfied with the results,“ they add.