TAP Air Portugal is on the financial up as they report strong profits for the first nine months of 2023, making them even more attractive for a private acquisition.
The Portuguese airline is performing well at the moment, and could see itself as more of an attractive proposition for privatisation, as has been widely discussed.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
TAP & It’s Financial Progress & Profit…
TAP Air Portugal posted a net profit of 203.5m EUR for the first nine months of this year, with operational revenues increasing by 29.7% to 725m EUR.
3Q23 saw the airline carry 5.2% more passengers compared to the same period last year, with load factors decreasing by 2.2%, but are 1.9% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Commenting on the results was Luis Rodrigues, the airline’s Chief Executive Officer:
“Q3 results are encouraging and validate the organisational focus of delivering a good summer to our passengers.”
“We are moving headway to step up the robustness of our operations and the quality of our passenger service, accelerating the recovery from two difficult previous years.”
“The remarkable surge in revenues, backed by resilient operating margins and a strong deleveraging plan in place, underscores our Group’s financial strength in the face of critical challenges.”
“On this path we rely on the commitment and dedication of all our people, to establish, together, TAP as a reference in the sector.”
A Further Attractive Proposition For Privatising The Flag Carrier of Portugal?
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With TAP Air Portugal announcing that 51% of the carrier will be put up for sale, it’s financial numbers like this that would make the airline attractive to those who wish to consolidate their position in the market.
For example, IAG, which runs British Airways, Aer Lingus amongst others, are interested in potentially bidding for the carrier.
The Lufthansa Group has also expressed potential interest to Reuters, as a spokesperson said the following to them:
“The Lufthansa group always seeks to have an active role in consolidating the market. That’s why the planned sale of a stake in TAP is interesting for us”.
Following the consolidation made by Air France-KLM with a near 20% stake in SAS, it remains clear that the big conglomerates are still sniffing around to make their move to capture not just European market share, but also global share too.
This will be an interesting element to watch, that’s for sure.
Overall…
Looking ahead, all eyes will be on TAP Air Portugal to see who will take that 51% stake in the carrier, as the privatisation process continues.
With a healthier outlook on profit, the airline does put itself in an attractive stead for such an acquisition, with IAG & Lufthansa Group already appearing to be interested.
Whoever does take that stake has an opportunity to reap the benefits of the European, North American and more importantly South American markets too, which are areas that the Portuguese carrier is thriving in currently.
But for now, all we can do is sit back and wait to see what happens in this process.
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