British Airways owner IAG has slumped to a €670 million pre-tax loss in the first three months of 2013 due to the restructuring of its struggling Spanish subsidiary Iberia.
IAG incurred one-off restructuring costs of €311 million between January and March which plunged the company further into the red – the €670 million loss compares to a deficit of €247 million for the same quarter in 2012.
On the brighter side for the company, revenue rose year-on-year by 0.5 per cent to €3.94 billion for the quarter while fuel costs dropped by 3.4 per cent to €1.36 billion compared to last year, although overall costs still rose 1.2 per cent to €4.2 billion.
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said: “These results are encouraging with underlying revenue strength in strategic markets however while the first step towards restructuring Iberia has been taken, there is more work to be done.
“We are adapting capacity to demand and are reporting a strong group passenger unit revenue performance, despite 10 days of Iberia industrial action and the weak economic situation in Spain.
“Iberia cut capacity in the quarter however its reduction in headcount and labour costs began in earnest in April. British Airways has increased its headcount in advance of the new aircraft arriving this year.”
IAG is set to cut around 3,000 jobs at Iberia as it looks to stem continual losses at the Spanish airline. BA is due to receive its first Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A380 superjumbos in the next few months.