BA Q1 profit up 72pc
Ap, London
British Airways PLC said Friday its first-quarter net profit rose 72 percent as the carrier saw passenger traffic driven by low fares on short-haul routes and strong demand for lucrative business class flights.But the company warned of tougher conditions in the second half, with fuel and pension costs expected to rise. Net profit for the three months ending June 30 rose to 150 million pounds ($282 million), up from 87 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue rose 12.5 percent to 2.32 billion pounds ($4.36 billion) from 2.06 billion pounds in the same period a year ago. "These are good results driven by strong revenue as a result of record seat factors and better cabin mix," said Chief Executive Willie Walsh. Walsh said low fares on short-haul flights had been "a big success," despite a brutal competition in the market. But he said market conditions are likely to get more difficult in the second half due to increasing price competition and that yields, or average fares, are likely to decline over the full year. The company said it had seen a 44 percent rise in fuel costs to 512 million pounds ($963 million) and noted that fuel costs for the full year are expected to be as much as 600 million pounds ($1.13 billion) more than last year when the bill came to 1.63 billion pounds ($3.06 billion).
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