BERLIN (Reuters) – Lufthansa lowered its profit outlook for 2024 on Monday, pointing to a series of strikes and a slower-than-expected recovery in capacity.
This profit warning caused the German airline’s shares to fall by more than 4% on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Lufthansa now forecasts adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) of 2.2 billion euros this year, compared to a previous forecast of adjusted Ebit stable compared to the 2.682 billion euros achieved in 2023.
Adjusted free cash flow in 2024 is expected to be at least 1 billion euros, down from the previous forecast of at least 1.5 billion, the group added.
Lufthansa also announced a loss of 849 million euros in the first quarter, compared to a loss of 273 million in the same period the previous year.
“Losses were higher than expected due to various strikes, both by different employee collectives within the group and by employees of system partners, which resulted in a profit impact of around 350 million euros,” the press release said.
Lufthansa is due to publish its final results for the first quarter on April 30.
(Editor Rachel More, French version Alban Kacher, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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