Tag: argentina (Page 2 of 2)

LATAM Airlines Posts Steep Third-Quarter Profit Fall

November 21, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – LATAM Airlines (LTM.SN), the biggest airline group in Latin America, reported a steep fall in third-quarter profit due to lower passenger demand in Argentina and Brazil as well as higher fuel prices and competition from low-cost airlines.

LATAM reported a net profit of $53 million for the quarter, down from $160 million a year earlier, according to a securities filing.

But it said it was maintaining its guidance for the year, expecting an overall operating margin for 2018 of between 6.5 and 8 percent. It is focused on cost-cutting to offset higher expenses.

“We are transporting more passengers with a leaner organization,” a company executive told analysts on a conference call.

Morgan Stanley raised its target price for LATAM shares traded in the New York stock exchange to $9 following the earnings release, from a previous target price of $8.80.

Shares were up 3.4 percent at $9.26 on Wednesday morning.

Demand in the quarter slowed in Brazil due to a weaker local currency, and demand fell significantly in Argentina, where the local currency faced an abrupt devaluation during the quarter, reducing passengers’ purchasing power.

“We carried more passengers in all our markets except Argentina, where we cut capacity this year,” an executive said.

Lower demand and increased fuel expenses due to higher oil prices has slashed profits across regional airlines. One of LATAM’s biggest competitors, Brazil’s Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOLL4.SA), reported a loss of $110 million during the quarter.

Market conditions prompted LATAM to renegotiate commitments for future aircraft purchases, achieving a reduction of $2.3 billion in fleet expenses through 2021, the company said.

The airline will also boost the number of available seats in some of its aircraft by 3 percent as improving utilization and seat count may allow it to grow with fewer aircraft.

Revenue declined by 5 percent to $2.5 billion in the quarter compared with the same period in 2017.

In the quarter, LATAM spent the equivalent of 30 percent of its revenue on fuel, compared with 21 percent a year earlier.

In comparison, Gol spent 37 percent of its revenue on fuel in the same quarter, up from 26 percent a year earlier.

(Reporting by Antonio de la Jara in Santiago and Marcelo Rochabrun in Sao Paulo; Writing by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Norwegian Air To Possibly Sell Its Airbus Aircraft

September 4, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

By Ole Petter Skonnord

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) expects to announce further aircraft sales by the end of the year including used Boeing 737s as well as some of the new Airbus planes it has on order to reduce it debt commitments.

Norwegian Air has committed to acquire 210 new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus by 2020.

“We have 90 neos (A320neo) from Airbus on order. The Airbus 320neos are for all practical purposes for sale. We have started a process where we will try to find a new home for those aircraft,” Chief Financial Officer Geir Karlsen told an investor presentation on Tuesday.

“The problem is not to sell them … but to get the price we want … Hopefully by the end of the year we should be able to disclose news on a transaction,” Karlsen said.

By the end of the year, Karlsen estimated Norwegian Air’s fleet of more than 150 planes to rise to 164-165. Taken into account planned aircraft sales, he said he expected a net increase in the fleet of 30-40 new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by 2022-2023.

Of its Airbus aircraft on order, 33 of them are Airbus 321LR(long range) neos, which could be kept, depending on traffic development in Argentina.

“We are pretty excited about what we are doing in Argentina and depending on how that goes we will decide on the solution on the Airbus 321 and will possibly move some of them to Argentina,” Karlsen said.

ARGENTINA LAUNCH

He said Norwegian Air started to sell tickets in Argentina on Tuesday on two routes linking Buenos Aires with Cordoba and Mendoza.

The first flight is planned in mid-October and the plan is to have 4 aircraft in Argentina by year-end.

“We will look at ticket sales before we decide what to do,” Karlsen said.

Last week Norwegian Air announced the sale of six used aircraft and said as many as 140 planes could be sold over time as a part of the renewal of its fleet and to help reduce debt.

Karlsen said sales of used aircraft would continue.

Such sales would “probably to be sold plus/minus book value as it looks now. Hopefully a little bit above,” Karlsen said.

(Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord; editing by Jason Neely)

Image from www.norwegian.com

American Airlines Adding Service to Mexico and South America

March 27, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

FROM GLOBE NEWSWIRE – American Airlines has a rich and robust history serving Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America, and American is continuing to grow its presence in the region with the addition of four new destinations. Next winter, customers looking for history, culture and warm climate will have access to three new cities in South America: Georgetown, Guyana (GEO); Pereira, Colombia (PEI) and Cordoba, Argentina (COR); and one new city in Mexico: Oaxaca (OAX).

American is also introducing service to Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE), from its West Coast hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), making American the first and only airline to offer nonstop service between these two major cities.

“We’re creating a world-class customer experience and as the largest U.S. carrier in Mexico and South America, we are committed to offering more choices with the best schedules for our customers in the region,” said Vasu Raja, vice president, Network and Schedule Planning. “As we look to strengthen our network, we’re excited to add more nonstop flights to places like Buenos Aires, maximizing connections across our network.”

The new routes will be available for sale starting in April.

New Routes:

Route	Aircraft	On Sale	Flights Begin
LAX-EZE	Boeing 787-9	April 2	Dec. 19
DFW-OAX	Embraer E175	April 2	Dec. 19
MIA-GEO	Airbus A319	April 2	Dec. 20
MIA-PEI	Airbus A319	April 17	Dec. 20
MIA-COR	Boeing 767-300	May 7	Apr. 2, 2019
All routes are subject to government approval.

American also recently announced new service between its hub at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Mexico City (MEX) beginning July 5, which will enhance trans-Atlantic connectivity from Mexico. By expanding its footprint in MCLA with these new routes, American will offer up to 270 flights per day to the region.

About American Airlines Group
American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. American is a founding member of the oneworld alliance, whose members and members-elect serve nearly 1,000 destinations with 14,250 daily flights to 150 countries. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. In 2015, its stock joined the S&P 500 index.

LATAM Airlines Posts Steep Third-Quarter Profit Fall

Norwegian Air To Possibly Sell Its Airbus Aircraft

American Airlines Adding Service to Mexico and South America

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