Abu Dhabi-backed airberlin's Q2 loss widens on fuel costs
German carrier airberlin, partly owned by Gulf airline Etihad, said on Wednesday that its second-quarter loss widened due to soaring fuel costs, the euro's weakening against the US dollar and a German air travel tax.
In the three months through June, Germany's second-biggest airline after Lufthansa posted a net loss of €66.2m (US$81.8m), compared with a year-earlier loss of €43.9m.
The Berlin-based carrier, which has not posted an annual operating profit since 2007, is trying to shrink its way back to profitability after growing rapidly and racking up debt.
Second-quarter revenue rose 1.7 percent to €1.14bn as airberlin raised ticket prices.
But the carrier's equity plummeted by about two-thirds to €101.3m by the end of June, while its net debt grew by 32 percent to €811.9m.
The equity reduction was partly due to seasonal effects and valuation of hedging instruments, airberlin said, adding that the figure had improved by €60m by the end of July.
To further bolster its liquidity, airberlin also got a €162.9m loan from Etihad on June 30.
Under the initial agreement struck when Etihad bought almost a third of Air Berlin in December, the Abu Dhabi-based airline agreed to grant airberlin up to US$255m. In May airberlin said it had drawn in the first quarter close to €90m under the credit facility agreed with Etihad.
A spokesman for Air Berlin declined to provide details on the loan facility received on June 30 before the carrier publishes full quarterly results and holds a conference call on August 15.
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