Finally the end of the tunnel. Air France-KLM suffered another massive net loss of 3.3 billion euros in 2021, halved compared to the previous financial year, and the airline group said on Thursday it was “optimistic for the future” after a better than expected fourth quarter. The Franco-Dutch company saw its turnover jump by 29% over one year to 14.3 billion euros, compared to 27.2 billion in 2019, the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic which has ravaged the airline industry.
However, thanks to the reopening of borders in Canada and then in the United States, the group’s companies saw their profitable long-haul routes regain strength in the fourth quarter. The last three months of the year even “represented a turning point for Air France-KLM”, said the group’s managing director, Benjamin Smith, quoted in a press release.
Indeed, “for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the group published better results than before the Covid, with a positive operating result” in the last quarter (178 million euros), he said. added. Despite a return to travel restrictions at the end of 2021 due to the highly contagious Omicron variant, “the overall performance reflects both the latent demand for travel and the result of our transformation efforts”, further judged Mr. Smith.
“The crisis is not over yet, but that makes us optimistic”
“The crisis is not over yet, but that makes us optimistic for the future,” assured the leader. In the meantime, Air France-KLM, still heavily indebted (8.2 billion euros at the end of 2021), said it was ready to launch a new recapitalization operation, the second after that of April 2021, in order to continue to rebalance his accounts. Like last year, the amount of this recapitalization could reach up to 4 billion euros.
Among the avenues considered is a new capital increase for which the current shareholders, including the French State which holds 28.6% of the shares, would have priority. The French State and the Dutch State could participate in this operation “in proportion” to their current participations, and “through partial compensation for the aid” they have granted, according to Air France-KLM.
During the first recapitalization operation, the French State had converted into quasi-equity 3 billion euros of loans and participated in a capital increase of one billion euros. For this new operation to strengthen its financial structure, Air France-KLM also mentions the issue of “perpetual bonds” to “accelerate the reimbursement of state aid” which enabled it to survive at the start of the crisis.
Find the balance
This aid was indeed subject to conditions by the European Commission, in particular the transfer of precious airport slots at Paris-Orly for Air France. They also limit the group’s ability to make acquisitions, at a time when a restructuring of the aviation sector is looming: many players are coming out of the health crisis very weak.
This new stage of recapitalization, the principle of which was acquired since the general meeting of shareholders in May 2021, aims to achieve the objective of a net debt reduced to double the gross operating surplus by 2023. . This ratio is an indicator scrutinized by investors because it reflects the company’s ability to honor its debts.