IAG sees strong summer demand as Q1 profits take off

(Sharecast News) - British Airways owner IAG said it was "well positioned" for the summer after posting a huge rise in first quarter profit on the back of strong leisure travel demand, especially over the Easter holidays. Operating profit before exceptional items in the three months to March 31 surged to €68m from €9m a year earlier. Passenger capacity grew 7% over the period.

"Our transformation initiatives and increased demand, including over the Easter holidays, have delivered another very good set of results with improvements to both revenue and operating profit," said chief executive Luis Gallego.

"Investment across the group in transformation is delivering encouraging improvements in punctuality and customer experience at our airlines. IAG Loyalty continues to perform very well. "We are well-positioned for the summer. The high demand for travel is a continuing trend."

Passenger revenue per available seat kilometre was 4.4% higher year on year, through the benefit of the timing of Easter and a continued strong leisure traffic recovery, with business traffic recovering more slowly.

IAG also owns Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com