British Airways owner reports 2% increase in earnings but pre-tax profits fall

British Airways owner International Airline Group (IAG) reported a 2.0% increase in third quarter earnings to 2.05 billion euros (£1.80 billion).

That is up from 2.01 billion euros (£1.77 billion) a year ago.

Pre-tax profits in the three months to the end of September fell by 2.1% to 1.87 billion euros (£1.64 billion).

That is compared with 1.91 billion euros (£1.68 billion) during the same period last year.

IAG, which also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling, reported a 2.4% increase in its capacity, but a 2.4% decline in passenger revenue.

The company said the North Atlantic market saw “some softness in US point of sale economy leisure”, while prices across its airlines were lower in the European market because of “high growth by British Airways and more competitive markets elsewhere”.

IAG chief executive Luis Gallego hailed the “strong set of results”, noting that “we are comparing with a very strong quarter last year”.

He said: “This performance was driven by the strength of our airline brands and businesses across our core market, where we continue to see robust demand for air travel.

“Europe continues to be weak but is improving lately, but it’s true it is the market that we can say is a little softer.

“The rest of the world in general is positive.”