| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 29/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 6 |
| Copyright: Other |
Airline chief to continue with Ayling policies
British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington pledged to continue with his predecessor’s strategy as the carrier reported a £5m profit for the year ending March 31.While announcing the worst set of figures since privatisation, Eddington stressed that BA would continue with the majority of policies set down by predecessor Bob Ayling.
BA lost £244m in the year to March 31, but announced a £5m pre-tax profit due to £249m gained from asset disposals. This included £149m from selling shares in Galileo and £58m from a part-sale of an interest in Equant.
In 1998/99, BA’s profits were £225m. In the past three years, BA has saved £1.1bn through cost cutting. BA’s turnover in the last financial year was up 0.5% at £8.94bn. The airline blamed losses on a £67m hit from higher fuel costs, a £136m exposure on foreign currency financing aircraft and £88m on restructuring.