Air France-KLM heeft in het eerste kwartaal van het gebroken boekjaar 2005/2006 flink last gehad van de hoge brandstofprijzen. Daar stond tegenover dat de luchtvaartcombinatie meer passagiers vervoerde.
De winst kwam uit op 110 miljoen euro, exclusief afschrijving van goodwill. Dat was in dezelfde periode vorig jaar nog 87 miljoen euro. De omzet steeg van 4,9 miljard euro tot 5,2 miljard euro.

FIRST QUARTER 2005-06
�� Strong performance in Passenger activity and robust unit revenues in both Passenger and Cargo
�� Current operating profit up by 27.4% to 223 million euros
�� Objective for the full year revised upwards
�� Gearing ratio sharply reduced.

First quarter to 30th June 2005: current operating profit of 223 million euros
(+27.4%)
Despite a further rise in the oil price, the air transportation industry recorded high levels of passenger activity. In contrast the weakness of European exports weighed on cargo activity. Against this backdrop,
Air France-KLM recorded a strong first quarter with a sharp rise in its passenger traffic and an improvement in unit revenues, including those of Cargo.
Turnover rose 5.5% (6.4% excluding the Servair effect) to 5.19 billion euros. Operating expenses rose 4.7% to 4.96 billion euros. Excluding fuel, operating expenses were virtually stable (+0.6%) against a 5.1% increase in activity measured in equivalent available seat kilometers (EASK).
The main changes in operating expenses stemmed from fuel charges, which were up 32.2%, and Commercial and distribution charges which were reduced by 18.4%. Changes in other expenses were in line with the development of the activity.
The fuel bill amounted to 809 million euros (+197 million euros) under the combined impact of a rise of 3% in volumes and 50% in jet fuel prices before hedging, and a 7% fall in the value of the Dollar relative to the Euro. Thanks to the quality of the hedging contracts in place, the group was able to reduce its fuel bill by 176 million euros or 18% before hedging.

Commercial and distribution costs fell by 71 million euros to 315 millions (-18.4%) following the implementation of the zero commission system on 1st April 2005 in France (and 1st January 2005 in the Netherlands).
Unit costs measured in equivalent available seat kilometers (EASK) rose 0.7%, but were down 2.7% on a constant exchange rate and fuel price basis.
Current operating profit rose 27.4% to 223 million euros at 30th June 2005, against 175 million euros at 30th June 2004. The operating margin rose 0.7 points to 4.3%.
Interest charges were reduced from 67 million euros at 30th June 2004 to 60 million euros at 30th June 2005 (-10.4%). In contrast, the foreign exchange loss deepened to 23 million euros versus 18 million euros a year earlier, mainly due to the impact of the stronger Dollar on debt.
Before the write-back of the KLM goodwill (which amounted to 449 million at 30th June 2004 and 2 million at 30th June 2005) the consolidated pre-tax profit of fully integrated companies rose 32.4%, from 111 million euros at 30th June 2004 to 147 million euros at 30th June 2005.
Net profit, Group share amounted to 112 million euros. The year-on-year change was non significant when taking account of the write-backs of the KLM goodwill. Excluding these write-backs, net profit Group share amounted to 110 million euros at 30th June 2005 versus 87 million euros at 30th June 2004, a rise of 26.4%.

Outlook for the full year: current operating profit target revised upwards
Given the robustness of both activity levels and unit revenues, the results for the second quarter should see a marked improvement. The quality of the fuel hedging contracts in place will absorb an significant part of the impact on the charges of the current rise in oil prices. As a result of this, and on condition that its activity trends remain broadly unchanged, Air France-KLM is now targeting a current operating profit for the full year 2005-06 significantly above the 2004-05 level restated under IFRS.