SAS reports major loss for 1st quarter

The SAS Group has reported a loss of SEK one billion for the first quarter of this year, in line with what experts had predicted. In the same period last year the reported loss was SEK 875 million.

Income before tax amounted to SEK 1,024 million.The number of passengers fell by 15.5 per cent, compared with the same period last year.

SAS Group  President and CEO, Mats Jansson commented: “During the first quarter, the global economy continued to weaken at a pace that has rarely been seen before. The market is extremely unpredictable and uncertainty regarding the time of a recovery commencing remains high. As expected, earnings for the first quarter were weak and amounted to MSEK -934 before nonrecurring items. Accordingly, it is also highly gratifying that the various parts of the Group’s new strategic direction, Core SAS, are being implemented according to plan. We are reducing our capacity and removing unprofitable market shares. The fact that the issue was oversubscribed is a clear sign that the market has confidence in our new strategy.”

SAS reduced the number of employees by 500 in the first quarter.