IAG, the International Airlines Group, owner of several major airlines including British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia Airlines, said Friday its net profit climbed 12% in the third quarter despite higher fuel costs.
Profit after tax grew to 1.1 billion euros in the three months to September, compared with the third quarter a year earlier.
Chief executive Willie Walsh praised the results which came ‘despite significant fuel cost and foreign exchange headwinds’.
Jet fuel is sourced from crude oil, whose price has shot higher in recent months.
‘Take out the impact of higher fuel prices and unfavourable currency moves, and it becomes clear IAG is doing some pretty impressive work on underlying operating improvements,’ said George Salmon, equity analyst at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.
‘Nonetheless, it shouldn’t be forgotten [that] business and leisure travel are both sensitive to the fortunes of the wider economy. IAG remains vulnerable to any economic downturn on the back of a disorderly Brexit,’ Salmon added in a client note.
In morning deals, IAG shares jumped 2.6% to 602.40, one of the few rising companies on London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was down a hefty 1.5 %.