Lufthansa Group has incurred a first-quarter net loss of €507 million ($752.6 million), widened 70.1% from a €298 million net deficit in the year-ago quarter.
However the loss was blamed on an accounting effect as it includes a €300 million charge associated with a change in the value of fuel hedge options, which CFO Stephan Gemkow said “hedging options are taking a lot of pressure off our operating result.”
First-quarter revenue rose 11.8% year-over-year to €6.4 billion and operating loss was €227 million, narrowed from an operating deficit of €330 million in the year-ago period.
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines posted a first-quarter operating loss of €234 million. Swiss International Air Lines earned a first-quarter operating profit of €17 million, Austrian Airlines incurred an operating loss of €64 million, bmi reported a €63 million operating deficit and Germanwings suffered an operating loss of €44 million.