Alitalia loss for 2004 could top eur800 million (English)

[PP-VRA]

Alitalia's net loss for 2004 could amount to eur850 million ($1.1 billion), a major deterioration from the eur519.7 million net loss it posted in 2003.

The estimated loss figure was included in a letter from European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot to the Italian government obtained by financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore.
Alitalia said it was "disappointed" by the release of some of its financial data by the European Commission. "This data and other elements are of the nature of 'studies,' developed in the framework of [the EU's state aid] procedure, which don't yet include sufficient accounting elements," Alitalia said in a statement, adding that "the data and other elements have not been approved by the decision-making bodies of the company."

The EC letter, which informed the Italian government of its decision to open an in-depth probe into the airline's restructuring plan, also noted that state holding company Fintecna will take a 51% stake in Alitalia's proposed split-off services division, not 49% as indicated by the carrier. The assertion is based on plans for Fintecna to pay eur101 million for ordinary shares in AZ Services compared with Alitalia's eur97 million share.

Meanwhile, in accordance with requirements of Italy's securities and exchange authorities, Alitalia announced Monday that its net group debt at the end of Dec. amounted to eur1.76 billion, a worsening of eur106 million from its net indebtedness of eur1.66 billion at the end of Nov. It said the increase was partly owing to the use of the first eur100 million of its eur400 million government guaranteed bridge loan, which was cleared by the EC.--Cathy Buyck


Fonte: Air Transport World Online