BA quarterly profit slightly down

British Airways has announced a pre-tax profit of £241 million (2004: £293 million) for the three months ended on September 30.

The 2004 result had benefited by £86 million from the sale of shares in Qantas.

The three-month pre-tax figures took the result for the half-year to £365 million profit (2004: £368 million).

Operating profit for the quarter was £261 million (2004: £245 million) and the operating margin was 11.8 per cent (2004: 12 per cent).

Yields in the second quarter were up 1.3 per cent (2004: 5.1 per cent down). The operating profit for the half-year was £437 million (2004: £374 million) giving an operating margin of 10.2 per cent (0.7 points up). The board has decided that no interim dividend should be paid.

Group turnover for the second quarter was £2,205 million (2004: £2,038 million).

Traffic volumes, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), were up 3.7 per cent. Seat factor was up 1.1 points at 79.6 per cent on capacity 2.2 per cent higher in available seat kilometres.

Fuel costs increased by 51.3 per cent due to the increase in fuel prices, net of hedging. Employee costs were up 3.3 per cent. The increases were partially offset by continued reductions in selling costs.