IAG has reported a full year 2021 net loss of €2.93 billion or (€0.591) per share on an 8.3 percent year-over-year increase in revenue to €8.46 billion. At December 31, 2021, the Group had €7.94 billion in cash, cash equivalents and interest-bearing deposits.
On Friday (February 25, 2022), International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) reported their financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2021. For the fourth quarter, the Group reported a statutory operating loss of €278 million and a net loss of €311 million on revenue of €3.53 billion. IAG reported a full year 2021 statutory operating loss of €2.77 billion and a net loss of €2.93 billion. At December 31, 2021, the company had net debt totaling €11.67 billion, an increase of 19.5 percent versus year end 2020, and total cash, cash equivalents and interest bearing deposits of €7.94 billion.
In Friday’s announcment, IAG’s Chief Executive Officer, Luis Gallego, said,
“We are confident that a strong recovery is underway. Our teams across the Group are taking every opportunity to develop our business while capitalising on the surge in bookings when travel restrictions are lifted. Our people’s extraordinary work and dedication has been key to weather this crisis. We are also monitoring recent geopolitical events closely to manage any potential impact. All our airlines continued to show improvements in the fourth quarter, optimising their performance and further improving their operating results. Our diversified business model enabled us to make the most of the recovery as individual markets were affected at different times and in different ways.
“Iberia made €82 million operating profit in the quarter as it seized opportunities to strengthen its position on routes to Latin America and the Spanish domestic market. IAG Loyalty continued to be profitable and cash generative, as it has been throughout the pandemic, which shows the benefits of our unique platform. Premium leisure has performed strongly at both British Airways and Iberia while business travel has started to recover especially on the transatlantic routes.
“Prior to Omicron, long-haul traffic had seen the highest booking activity in October and November at over 80 per cent of 2019 levels. This was driven by the re-opening of the North Atlantic corridor and the strength of long-haul leisure markets and travellers visiting families and friends. Demand slowed down for very near-term trips following the emergence of Omicron in late November. However, bookings have remained strong for Easter and summer 2022 having picked up in the New Year. We expect a robust summer with IAG returning to around 85% of its 2019 capacity for the full year. As we ramp up operations our customers remain at the heart of everything we do. This means investment in passenger experience and operational resilience to provide the best service.
“We know that after the worst crisis in aviation’s history we must do things differently. Our model enables us to capture revenue and cost synergies while maximising efficiencies which means we are set up to return to profitability in 2022. We’re pleased that our work tackling climate change continues to be recognised as industry-leading. For the second year running, IAG was the only European airline group to receive a Leadership grade (A-) from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). This puts us in the top six per cent among nearly 12,000 global companies. We also received the highest score of any airline from the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) which assesses companies’ readiness to transition to a low-carbon economy”
IAG’s 2021 capacity as measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs) was down 63.9 percent compared to FY 2019, and up 7.7 percent versus 2020. During 2021, travel restrictions for Ireland and the UK were greater than those in Spain and consequently, Iberia and Vueling were able to increase capacity faster than other Group airlines, reaching over 75 percent of 2019 capacity during Q4 2021. For the full year, Aer Lingus operated with the lowest ASKs at 24.4 percent of 2019 levels, while British Airways operated at 28.3 percent, Vueling at 53 percent and Iberia at 55.4 percent.
In 2021, IAG took delivery of 11 aircraft with six for British Airways, one for Iberia and one for Aer Lingus, including eight Airbus A320 Family, one Airbus A330 and two Embraer E190s. The Group did not enter into any agreements to acquire new aircraft in 2021, either from OEMs or lessors. At December 31, 2021, the Group had authorized and contracted CAPEX of €10.9 billion which includes commitments through 2027 for 110 new aircraft including 56 Airbus A320 Family, 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, 18 Boeing 777s and 26 Airbus A350s.
Source: IAG