Highlights
- Executing our strategy has driven very strong financial performance in the quarter: • Increase in total revenue by 7.9%
• Increase in operating profit by 15.4% to €2,013 million
• Increase in operating margin by 1.4 percentage points to 21.6% - Demand remains strong in all our core markets, supporting a 1.2% increase in passenger unit revenue
- Ongoing focus on improving our customer propositions and operational resilience
- Increased profitability supports significant free cash flow generation, investment and an increasingly strong balance sheet
- We are pleased to announce a €350 million share buyback
- We expect our strong financial performance to continue for the rest of the yearLuis Gallego, IAG Chief Executive Officer, said:“We achieved a very strong financial performance in Q3 2024, with a 15.4% increase in operating profit compared to the same period last year and improving our margin to 21.6%. This is due to the effectiveness of our strategy and Group-wide transformation.
“We are also delivering on our commitment to provide sustainable returns for shareholders. “Demand remains strong across our airlines and we expect a good final quarter of 2024 financially.” Financial summary:
- 1 The prior period comparative is 31 December 2023.
- 2 Exceptional items in 2024 (2023: nil) relate to the withdrawal from the Air Europa transaction and tax, as explained in the Financial review andAlternative performance measures section.
- 3 Total liquidity includes Cash, cash equivalents and interest-bearing deposits, plus committed and undrawn general and aircraft-specific financingfacilities.
Financial highlights for the third quarter of 2024
- Total revenue growth of 7.9% mainly due to to higher passenger revenue, with an improvement in Cargo revenue and Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) revenue at Iberia
- Passenger revenue per available seat kilometre (‘ASK’) for the third quarter was 1.2% higher than in the third quarter of 2023, despite an exceptionally strong comparative quarter in 2023. For the nine months to 30 September it has increased by 2.2%
- Non-fuel unit costs increased by 2.2%, as the benefits of transformation and capacity growth partially offset wage settlements and supplier inflation
- Fuel unit cost was down by 4.2% compared to the third quarter of 2023, reflecting the lower effective fuel prices net of hedging and the benefit of IAG’s ongoing deliveries of more efficient aircraft
- Operating margin for the third quarter was 21.6%, a 1.4 percentage point increase compared with the third quarter in 2023, with a 5.4 percentage point improvement in the British Airways margin
- Profit after tax of €1,435 million for the third quarter, an increase of 17% compared to €1,230 million in Q3 2023
- Net debt at 30 September reduced to €6,189 million (31 December 2023: €9,245 million; 30 September 2023: €8,009 million) andnet debt to EBITDA before exceptional items reduced to 1.0 times
Volume 2:
