TAP S.A. profitable again, making €57 million

This is a remarkable result which returns TAP to the balanced growth it has seen in recent years, with the exception of 2008.

Overseas sales for TAP, S.A. (passengers, cargo and maintenance), which totalled EUR 1.430 billion, showed a relative increase against sales in Portugal. This amount, when compared with recently published figures, makes TAP the largest domestic exporter in 2009.

The 11% drop in operating income (a loss of EUR 238 million) - which fell from EUR 2.161 billion in 2008 to 1.923 billion in 2009 - was compensated by a decrease in the price of fuel, which equalled EUR 294 million. Had nothing more been done, TAP, S.A. would have suffered a loss of EUR 153 million.

However, efforts by the company to cut costs, combined with a selective reduction in its flight offering, decreased costs by EUR 201 million, thus allowing TAP, S.A. to achieve a profit of EUR 57 million.

In addition, a more aggressive commercial strategy minimised the decrease in revenue that characterised activity in this sector last year.

Operating income, which had been minus EUR 156 million in 2008, thus became an operating profit of EUR 65 million in 2009.

EBITDA rose significantly from EUR 48 million to EUR 262 million in 2009.

The result for TAP, SGPS remained negative, however (minus EUR 3.5 million), despite a sharp contrast with that of 2008, when total losses for the Group came to EUR 285 million.

The loss suffered in 2009 by TAP, SGPS was due chiefly to the negative impact of EUR 31.6 million from a repurchase of the shares Globalia held in Groundforce.

It is worth noting that TAP's recovery took place in a year when air transport, according to IATA, experienced the worst losses ever, totalling USD 9.4 billion.

IATA data also showed that traffic fell by 7.2% on average in 2009, whilst traffic for TAP only decreased by 3.4% with 8.44 million passengers carried on its general network, making 2009 its second-best year ever.