Scandinavian airline group slashes losses

on 08/03/2013 09:47:40

Scandinavian airline group SAS says it narrowed its net loss in the November-January period to 630 million kronor (€76m) from 2.5bn kronor (€300m) a year earlier, mainly through cost cuts.

Revenue in the period was up to 9.6 billion kronor (€1.15bn) from 9.3 billion kronor (€1.1bn) as overall traffic grew 4.3%.

Facing stiff competition from budget airlines and high expenses, SAS AB embarked in November on a wide restructuring plan to streamline operations and announced 800 job cuts aimed at saving 3 billion kronor (€360m) annually.

Chief executive Rickard Gustafson said today that he was not satisfied with the performance but was upbeat about 2013, saying SAS is committed to completing its action plan.

Its aim to achieve positive income before tax for the full-year "remains firmly in place".