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International Consolidated Airlines Group SA on Friday hailed a strong performance in the first half of 2025, with the British Airways expecting ‘good earnings growth and margin progression’ for the full year. IAG, which also owns Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus, said pretax profit in the six months to June 30 rose 67% to €1.75 billion from €1.05 billion a year prior. In the second quarter alone, pretax profit rose by a third to €1.51 billion from €1.13 billion. Operating profit before exceptional items rose 44% to €1.88 billion in the first half and by 35% to €1.68 billion for the second quarter alone, beating company-compiled analyst consensus of €1.43 billion. Revenue during the half-year rose 8.0% to €15.91 billion from €14.72 billion a year earlier. For the second quarter, it increased 6.8% to €8.86 billion from €8.30 billion. ‘Our strong performance in the first half of 2025 reflects the resilience of demand for travel and the success of our ongoing transformation, underpinned by the fundamental strengths of our group,’ Chief Executive Officer Luis Gallego said. ‘We continue to benefit from the trend of a structural shift in consumer spending towards travel. We remain focused on our market-leading brands and core geographies, where we continue to see robust performance, allowing us to invest in fleet as well as technology to improve operational efficiency and customer experience.’ The CEO added: ‘These results give us confidence that we will deliver good earnings growth and margin progression for the full year and enable us to create value for our shareholders through our sustainable dividend and the share buyback.’ IAG said capacity increased 2.7% in the first half. Capacity at Aer Lingus rose 8.6%, while at Spanish airline Level, it rose 3.9%. At Iberia, which is also Spanish and is the nation’s flag carrier, capacity was 1.2% higher. Vueling capacity rose 3.3%. British Airways capacity was 2.1% higher. The company said it is 57% booked for the second half. Booked revenue is in line with the prior year. IAG added: ‘We are confident in delivering good earnings growth, margin progression and strong returns to shareholders this year, whilst being mindful of the ongoing uncertainty that may result from the geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop. We are continuing to see robust demand for air travel and for our brands across our core markets, highlighting the strength of our portfolio. ‘Demand in our core markets of North Atlantic, Latin America and Europe is robust, with strength in our premium cabin partially mitigating some softness in US point-of-sale economy leisure.’ IAG shares rose 2.2% to 388.70 pence each in London on Friday morning. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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