TAP losses €493.1M in H1

The Portuguese national carrier TAP recorded losses of €493.1 million in the first half of 2021 – an like-for-like improvement of €88.8 million.

This was according to the airline’s results which were published by the stock market commission CMVM on Friday.
The airline stressed that its “activity in the first half of 2021 was affected considerably by the effects of the pandemic and consequent restrictions on mobility”.
The first quarter of 2021, a time when Portugal was under lockdown, was the quarter which most adversely affected the airline’s results.
The total revenue in H1 which was €383.1 million was badly affected by the restrictions of Q1, 2021 with a decrease of 40.7% when compared to the same period in 2020 and 73.6% less than the first half of 2019,” states the company.
Total operations costs stood at €760.5 million for the half, a “decrease of €313.1 million (-29.2%) when compared to H1 2020 mostly explained by the fall in costs of the following: fuel costs (-40.4%), traffic operation costs (-43.7%), staff costs (-8.6%) and depreciations and amortisations (-20.8%),” states TAP.
The company also justifies the reduction in costs on the restructuring measures being undertaken, namely a reduction in staff numbers by 1,302, representing a 16% cut in staff costs.
The airline is also awaiting approval for its restructuring plan from the EU Commission “as it meanwhile continues to carry out cost-cutting measures.
TAP also emphasises a capital increase of €462 million which almost “compensated for the negative net result in the first half.”
In this operation, “TAP’s share capital increased €41.5 million to €503.5 million and the Portuguese Republic via DGTF became a direct TAP shareholder owning around 92% of the company with the remaining 8% directly held by TAP – SGPS, S.A.”