Lufthansa says not interested in taking over Alitalia
German airline group Lufthansa said yesterday it is not interested in snapping up troubled Italian carrier Alitalia, as Rome hunts for a buyer after workers rejected a bailout plan.
"We are clearly not there to buy Alitalia," finance chief Ulrik Svensson said during a teleconference with analysts on Lufthansa's first-quarter financial results. Italian government ministers said Wednesday they would not oppose a takeover bid by the German behemoth, as they announced that Alitalia would be sold "to the highest bidder".
Lufthansa, which already owns a stable of carriers including Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, yesterday reported a net loss of 68 million euros between January and March - a worse performance than the same period last year. The result comes after a record year for Frankfurt-based Lufthansa, in which it booked profits of 1.75 billion euros ($1.90 billion) despite fierce competition from low-cost competitors and Gulf airlines such as Etihad. Loss-making Alitalia's future is up in the air after its workforce rejected a restructuring plan which management had presented as the only alternative to bankruptcy. Etihad, which owns a 49 percent stake in Alitalia, and other shareholders had made staff acceptance of the plan a precondition for their participation in a two-billion-euro recapitalisation plan involving a combination of loans and new shareholder financing. But despite earlier proposals being watered down in negotiations with unions, over two thirds of staff voted to reject them in a ballot on Monday, in which more than 90 percent of employees took part.
"We are clearly not there to buy Alitalia," finance chief Ulrik Svensson said during a teleconference with analysts on Lufthansa's first-quarter financial results. Italian government ministers said Wednesday they would not oppose a takeover bid by the German behemoth, as they announced that Alitalia would be sold "to the highest bidder".
Lufthansa, which already owns a stable of carriers including Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, yesterday reported a net loss of 68 million euros between January and March - a worse performance than the same period last year. The result comes after a record year for Frankfurt-based Lufthansa, in which it booked profits of 1.75 billion euros ($1.90 billion) despite fierce competition from low-cost competitors and Gulf airlines such as Etihad. Loss-making Alitalia's future is up in the air after its workforce rejected a restructuring plan which management had presented as the only alternative to bankruptcy. Etihad, which owns a 49 percent stake in Alitalia, and other shareholders had made staff acceptance of the plan a precondition for their participation in a two-billion-euro recapitalisation plan involving a combination of loans and new shareholder financing. But despite earlier proposals being watered down in negotiations with unions, over two thirds of staff voted to reject them in a ballot on Monday, in which more than 90 percent of employees took part.