FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as rising fuel costs cancelled out revenue gains from booming travel demand after lifted COVID-19 restrictions.
The airline’s adjusted loss before interest and taxes (EBIT) narrowed to 591 million euros ($627.46 million) in the first quarter from the loss 1.05 billion euros it reported for the same period of 2021.
Analysts had on average expected the loss to narrow to 558 million euros according to a company-provided consensus.
However, the company confirmed its forecast for an improvement of its adjusted EBIT in 2022 compared to 2021.
“The current level of bookings gives us confidence that our financial results will further improve in the coming quarters. We must pass through rising costs to customers,” finance chief Remco Steenbergen said in a statement.
($1 = 0.9419 euros)
(Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska, editing by Kirsti Knolle)
