BA profits beat forecasts

FORMER Aer Lingus chief executive Willie Walsh displayed a strong start as British Airways boss yesterday when the airline beat expectations with second-quarter profits of £241 million (€356m).

The bottom line was down on the same period last year but this was due to the non-recurrence of a once-off gain of £86m (€127.3m) from the sale of shares in Australian airline Qantas. Operating profits were 6% ahead at £261m (€386.6m). Revenues in the three months to September were up 8.2% at £2.2 billion (€3.25bn).

Mr Walsh said the results were “reasonable” but warned BA was under pressure on the costs front. Fuel costs soared over 50% thanks to record oil prices.