Lufthansa rallies as CEO sounds upbeat note on 2015 profit
Shares in Lufthansa surged after its chief executive said he was confident the German airline would hit its profit target this year thanks to strong business over the summer months and a turnaround in its European short-haul division.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG
€6.73
08:50 24/04/24
Xetra DAX
18,203.60
08:50 24/04/24
"We are positive that we will comfortably achieve our adjusted EBIT target of more than €1.5bn this year," Carsten Spohr told Reuters in an interview at the group's main base in Frankfurt.
Spohr said the Germanwings unit, which has been taking over a large proportion of the company’s short-haul routes in Europe, will make a double-digit million euro profit this year, its first profit in years.
"(It's) beyond our expectations considering where we started from two years ago," he said.
"There's more and more non-stop travel on the European front," Spohr said, adding there was space for Eurowings in Lufthansa's core markets Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where low-cost carriers have not gained as much market share.
At 1403 BST, Lufthansa shares were up 6.9% at €11.66.