BA Owner IAG In £442m Loss

Losses have deepened for IAG, the owner of airlines BA and Iberia, as it reports a half-year pre tax loss of 506m euros (£442m) in the six months to June.

The company says the loss is down to exceptional one-off items, as a result of restructuring at Iberia, which left IAG with a bill of more than 250m euros (£218m).

However the airline group saw passenger revenue rise by 4% to 7.498bn euros, with total revenue up 2.1% to 8.707bn euros compared to last year.

IAG said the operating loss for the half-year was 33m euros before exceptional items were added.

Chief executive Willie Walsh told Sky News: "All the exceptional items were in the first quarter and they related to restructuring at Iberia.

"The second quarter results were actually very impressive, where we reported an operating profit of 245m euro, up from the 4m euro loss last year."

The company has been implementing a significant restructuring on Iberia, which has resulted in industrial action and major job cuts.

Mr Walsh said: "The restructuring plan is proving to be effective, but there's still a long way to go.

"To date, about 1,700 people have left Iberia, by the end of the year that will have increased to about 2,400 and there will be more next year."

He added: "I'm pleased with the way the restructuring programme is progressing."

BA's performance in the group further strengthened, with operating profit at 247m euros in the period, compared to 94m euros in 2012.

The airline boss explained: "The London market and transatlantic traffic remains strong, legacy costs from the BMI integration have ended and the airline remains focused on cost control."

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