Lufthansa Ready For The Future
Christoph Franz is stepping down as the CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, but he’s leaving the post as the carrier posts an operating profit of EUR 697m in the books for 2013.
Adjusted for non-recurring items from the realignment of several corporate divisions, profit totals more than EUR 1bn. Compared with the adjusted prior-year figure, the operating profit for 2013 increased by 62%. The Group managed to achieve stable revenue of EUR 30.0bn despite a lower number of flights. Net profit for the Group was EUR 313m. All of the business segments were profitable, and the subsidiaries Lufthansa Technik and LSG SkyChefs achieved the best results of their corporate history in 2013.
Wolfgang Mayrhuber, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, praised Franz’s performance, commenting: “In his three years as CEO of the Lufthansa Group, Christoph Franz laid important foundations and worked tirelessly to make the Group fit for the future. He is ending his time in office with a positive result and is handing over a well-ordered organization to Carsten Spohr. Despite strong headwinds, the Lufthansa Group is making considerable advances.”
In the Group’s core business all of the passenger airlines — namely, Lufthansa, Germanwings, SWISS and Austrian Airlines — achieved clear improvements.
Franz stressed at the Annual General Meeting that, in light of the rapid changes in the airline industry, the success that the Group had achieved in realigning several corporate divisions was just as important as the positive financial results.
Said the outgoing CEO: “Our accomplishments thus far are the basis for the necessary earnings improvements in the coming years. We know that we have demanded a lot from our employees. We are appreciative and grateful for the good work they do every day, as well as for the loyalty of our customers and the trust of our shareholders. But for the Lufthansa Group to remain a leading global aviation group in the future, it will have to continually expand its number one position in Europe.”
Carsten Spohr took over as the CEO and chairman of the Executive Board on May 1.
In other news from the Lufthansa Group, it reports that in 2013 the passenger airlines in the Group beat the four-litre mark for the first time, with an average consumption of just 3.91 litres of kerosene per passenger per 100 kilometres. That’s is an improvement of 3.8% over 2012. In short, the aviation group achieved over twice the annual efficiency target increase of 1.5% set for the airline industry.
As well the Group’s absolute fuel consumption fell for the second time in a row since 2012, by 1.3% year on year, despite a production increase of 2.3%. In absolute terms, the Group’s fuel use decreased 114,152 tons compared to 2012 and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by more than 359,587 tons, a benefit for the environment. This is roughly equivalent to the CO2 volume emitted annually by oil-fired heating systems in about 50,000 homes.
Franz observed: “The new record is a clear sign that all our efforts to increase fuel efficiency have taken hold. Ecologically and economically we have a great interest in making the most efficient use possible of the fuel we need to carry our passengers. That is one reason why we are investing billions every year in next-generation aircraft.”
Go to http://www.LH.com for more.
