British Airways Q1 profit down 90.1%, with near 50% rise in fuel costs y-o-y

British Airways has reported net profit of £27 million ($53.5 million) for the fiscal first quarter, ended 30 June. This result is down 90.1% from £274 million earned in the corresponding period last year.

It said the drop was largely due to a 49.3% year-on-year rise in fuel costs, which were up at £706 million after hedging.

"We are in the worst trading environment the industry has ever faced. The combination of unprecedented oil prices, economic slowdown and weaker consumer confidence has led to substantially lower first-quarter profits," CEO Willie Walsh commented.

According to the carrier, even though revenue was up 2.8% to £2.26 billion, total operating costs also went up15.2%, to £2.22 billion. Operating profit, it said, was down 86.8% to £35 million, as compared to £263 million a year ago.

Passenger revenue was up 2.9%, to £1.97 billion on a 0.7% lift in Available Seat Kilometre (ASKs). It said weak consumer confidence, particularly in the UK and US, resulted in reduced traffic volumes.

RPKs were down 3.7% and seat factor fell 3.4 points to 73.4%.