Lufthansa's Q2 profits down 21.2% y-o-y, though fairly robust at €345 million

Grappling with a union industrial action that has partially affected services, Lufthansa Group yesterday  reported  first-half net profit of €402 million ($632.1 million). This translates into a return of €345 million for the second-quarter, a 21.2% decline from €438 million earned in the year-ago quarter.  Given the operating conditions that the airline industry finds itself in globally, Lufthansa may consider this to be a robust performance.

Revenue in the first half of 2008 rose 19.8%, year-over-year, to €12.1 billion.

According to Lufthansa, the result "reflects the altogether stable operating performance" of the Group.

As for the strike launched by the ver.di union on Monday, Lufthansa has not been hit too severely saying it had cancelled 70 domestic flights, amounting to 3% of its daily schedule. So far it has had to ground nine aircraft.