International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) reported fourth quarter operating profit €620 million before exceptional items, compared to €530 million during the year-ago period. Passenger unit revenue for the quarter was down 12.7 per cent, down 4.3 per cent at constant currency. Non-fuel unit costs before exceptional items for the quarter down 8.8 per cent, down 0.8 per cent at constant currency. Fuel unit costs before exceptional items for the quarter down 26.6 per cent, down 21.0 per cent at constant currency.
For the full year 2016, IAG’s operating profit before exceptional items of €2,535 million was up by 8.6 per cent compared to €2,335 million reported in 2015. Net foreign exchange operating profit impact for the year adverse €460 million. Revenue for the year was down 1.3 per cent to €22,567 million and passenger unit revenue for the year down 5.4 per cent at constant currency. Fuel unit costs for the year before exceptional items down 26.8 per cent, down 25.8 per cent at constant currency. Non-fuel unit costs for the year before exceptional items down 4.1 per cent and up 0.5 per cent at constant currency. Profit after tax €1,952 million up 28.8 per cent, and diluted earnings per share up 25.7 per cent.
Willie Walsh, IAG Chief Executive Officer, said: “In the quarter, we made an operating profit before exceptional items of €620 million, up from a €530 million operating profit last year, with an improvement of our underlying passenger revenue trend.
"For the full year, it was a good performance in a challenging environment with an operating profit of €2,535 million before exceptional items, up 8.6 per cent versus last year.
"Our performance was affected by an adverse currency impact of €460 million. In particular, this was due to the weak pound following the UK's EU referendum. However, despite that, we've made good progress and continue to build on all we've achieved in our first five years.
"In 2016, we carried more than 100 million passengers - double the number British Airways and Iberia carried in 2010, a year before IAG was created.”
Walsh confirmed the payment of a final dividend of 12.5 euro cents per share, bringing IAG’s full year dividend to 23.5 euro cents per share. The company also announced a share buyback of €500 million during the course of 2017.
At current fuel prices and exchange rates, IAG expects its operating profit for 2017 to show an improvement year-on-year.