Lufthansa Swings to Quarterly Profit

Lufthansa swung to an operating profit of 36 million euros ($49.1 million) in the first quarter after carrying a record number of passengers. The result compared with a loss of 75 million euros a year ago, Lufthansa said in a statement last week.

Lufthansa added it had a net profit of 554 million euros in the first three months of the year, compared with a year-earlier net loss of 98 million euros.

The net result was boosted by a 499 million euros gain on the sale of Lufthansa’s 50 percent stake in tourism firm Thomas Cook to joint venture partner KarstadtQuelle and 36 million euros from Swiss, which it bought two years ago.

Lufthansa said earlier this month the number of passengers it carried in the first three months of the year rose 8 percent to a record 12.3 million. The proportion of seating capacity used, or passenger load factor, increased 2.6 percentage points.