The group has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of Globalia

MADRID, 24 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

IAG has registered a profit after taxes of 431 million euros in the financial year of 2022, which means a return to the 'black numbers' for the company after two years of losses due to the pandemic, as notified this Friday by the group to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

In this year, revenues almost tripled, to 23,066 million euros. Of these, 19,458 million came from ticket revenue, more than triple, and unit revenue per passenger rose 11%.

Expenses rose 94.4%, to 21,810 million euros. Operating profit stood at 1,256 million euros compared to losses of 2,765 million a year earlier, in line with the company's forecasts.

The group's CEO, Luis Gallego, has assured in a statement that 2022 has been a year of "solid recovery, driven by sustained holiday demand and the reopening of the markets."

As of December 31, IAG's net debt stood at 10,385 million euros, 10% less than a year earlier, and total liquidity reached 13,999 million, 16.7% more.

The group's airlines transported 94.7 million passengers throughout the year, more than double the number a year earlier, and made 619,122 takeoffs.

By 2023, the company expects capacity to be at 98% of 2019 levels and that profit from operations before exceptional items for the year will be between 1,800 and 2,300 million euros, and that most of the improvement compared to 2022 occurs in the first half of the year.

For the first quarter of 2023, losses of 200 million euros are estimated. All this, assuming that there are no more setbacks related to Covid-19 or other geopolitical events.

In 2023, the investments will be around 4,000 million euros, subject to the aircraft delivery schedule. The net debt at the end of 2023 is expected to remain similar to the level at December 31, 2022 of 10.4 billion euros.

The group announced this Thursday an agreement with Globalia for the acquisition of the remaining 80% of the share capital of Air Europa for 400 million euros.

According to Gallego, this agreement would allow them to "welcome another leading airline to the group and grow Madrid as a hub, offering a gateway to Latin America and beyond, providing benefits to customers, employees and shareholders."

In this way, the airline group that owns Iberia takes over 100% of the Hidalgo family airline for a total of 500 million euros, after the conversion of an unsecured loan from 100 million euros over seven years to Globalia in a 20% stake in the capital of Air Europa.

IAG has detailed that the first 200 million euros will be paid when approval is received from the Competition authorities, 100 million euros in IAG ordinary shares and 100 million euros in cash.

The deal is subject to regulatory and other approvals, which could take around 18 months.

The second and third year after the date of approval of the operation, another 100 million euros will be paid each.