Iberia Scores 11th Straight Year of Profitable Operations

Spanish airline Iberia closed 2006 with operating earnings (excluding non-recurring income and expenses) of 22 million euros, a 4.7 percent increase from the amount posted in 2005. The EBITDAR generated for the full year was £790.5 million, up 13 percent from the level market in 2005.

According to the company, earnings after tax reported by the airline (before the accounting adjustment of the value of the tax credit item), reached £116,1 million, 70.7 percent below the figure posted for 2005, which included income from the sale of Iberia’s stakes in Amadeus and Savia.

The company carried a total of 27.8 million passengers in 2006 and the load factor increased by 2.7 points to 79.8 percent, which was a new record for Iberia and 2.1 points higher than the average for European scheduled airlines.

In the fourth quarter of, EBITDAR climbed by 36.2 percent to £214.7 million, while operating results reached £48.6 million, more than six times the operating profit posted in the same quarter of 2005.

This positive performance was due to a 4.1 percent rise in unit revenues, and to a substantial slowing of unit expenses growth, which rose by just one percent. If fuel is excluded from consideration, we observe a reduction in operating expenses of nearly three percent in the quarter.

“Net earnings, before the tax credit adjustment mentioned above, reached 49.8 million euros in the final quarter, in sharp contrast to the €5.8 million loss posted in the same quarter of 2005, stated the company.