British Airways posted a fall in second-quarter profits as expected on Friday, after a security alert at British airports forced it to cancel flights, and on the sale of its loss-making regional unit BA Connect.
Europe's third-largest airline also trimmed its full-year revenue growth forecast after the increased security disruption cost it 100 million pounds ($191 million) in the quarter, but said its fuel bill would be lower than expected after oil prices fell.
The airline said its operating profit for the three months to end-September fell 8 percent to 240 million pounds ($458.2 million), down from 261 million pounds a year ago. The operating result was 134 million pounds after the inclusion of an impairment charge of 106 million pounds on the sale of its struggling regional subsidiary BA Connect to UK airline Flybe. BA will own a 15 percent stake in Flybe under the deal.
Pretax profit for the quarter fell 27 percent to 176 million pounds due to the impairment charge, higher fuel costs and the security disruptions, offset in part by a 48-million-pound gain on the sale of its holding in data management firm World Network Services.
Chief Executive Willie Walsh said the security scare in August, which forced it to cancel hundreds of flights out of London airports, had cost it 100 million pounds in the quarter. This was well above BA's original estimate of 40 million pounds but in line with analysts' expectations.
BA's passenger traffic was hurt in September and October due to the restrictions on hand luggage which deterred some passengers from flying, although Walsh said forward bookings were returning to normal. Passenger traffic rose 1.1 percent in October, the airline said. It said its full-year revenue was expected to rise 4.5 percent to 5 percent, down a half a percent from its previous guidance.
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