Beleaguered British Airways today posted record annual losses of £531 million, hit by strikes and winter snow, though said it had managed to cut costs by around £1 billion due to restructuring efforts.
The loss, the airline's largest annual deficit since it was privatised in 1987, follows last year's £401 million loss. BA said its revenues for the year to the end of March fell 11 per cent to £7.9 billion but that its costs had come down by around the same amount.
"This is our second consecutive year of record losses but we take heart from the fact that, while our
revenue has fallen by £1 billion, so have our costs," BA said in a statement, adding that the "outlook is becoming slightly more positive".
BA had been expected to report an average pretax loss of £590 million.
The results were severely affected by cabin crew strikes in March, which BA said cost it around £45 million and are expected to continue next week.
BA also said its merger with Spain's Iberia, which is expected to generate €400 million a year in cost savings, would be complete by the end of 2010.
Shares in BA, which have dropped 17 per cent in the last month, closed at 186.6 pence yesterday, valuing the business at around £2.2 billion.
Reuters