ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a hefty loss in the second quarter despite a strong increase in sales, pushing its red ink to more than $7 billion since the start of the year.
The results, hit by unprecedented fuel costs and a decline in the company's market value, still beat Wall Street estimates when one-time items are excluded.
The Atlanta-based company also said it expects to achieve $2 billion in cost savings by 2012 from its acquisition of Northwest Airlines Corp. That is double what it estimated when it announced the deal on April 14. It also said it expects to spend only $600 million in cash to integrate the two companies, compared to an earlier projection of $1 billion.
For the three months ending June 30, Delta said it lost $1.04 billion, or $2.64 a share, compared to a profit of $1.59 billion a year ago when Delta emerged from bankruptcy protection. It did not provide a per-share figure for the year-ago period. A year ago, it reported a different figure for its net income - $1.77 billion - which a spokeswoman said Wednesday was due to fresh-start accounting.
Excluding one-time items, Delta earned a profit of $137 million, or 35 cents a share, in the second quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast profit of 10 cents a share. Their estimates usually do not include one-time items.
Revenue rose 10 percent to $5.5 billion, compared to $5 billion recorded a year earlier. Analysts estimated revenue at $5.4 billion.
Delta recorded special charges totaling $1.2 billion in the second quarter, including a $1.1 billion non-cash charge, net of a $119 million tax benefit, related to the decline in Delta's market value due to sustained record fuel prices. Additional special charges included a $96 million severance charge for previously announced voluntary work force reduction programs and a $6 million charge related to facilities restructuring.
For the first six months of the year, Delta said it lost $7.43 billion, or $18.79 a share, compared to a profit of $1.46 billion for the same period a year earlier. Six-month revenue increased to $10.27 billion, compared to $9.24 billion a year earlier.
As of June 30, 2008, Delta had $4.3 billion in unrestricted liquidity, including $1 billion available under a revolving credit line.
Several major airlines have announced they are cutting domestic capacity, deferring plane orders or shedding jobs because of soaring fuel prices. The price of oil settled Tuesday at $138.74 a barrel. Delta spent $1.68 billion on aircraft fuel and related taxes in the second quarter, compared to $1.11 billion a year ago.
Delta intends to cut domestic capacity by 13 percent during the second half of the year.
Delta is seeking shareholder and regulatory approval for its plan to acquire Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest in a stock-swap deal that would create the world's largest carrier by traffic. On Tuesday, Delta announced plans for the composition of its senior leadership team after it acquires Northwest. The carrier expects the transition of Northwest's operations into Delta to last 12 to 24 months.
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October 11th, 2024
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