April 17, (THEWILL) – Delta Air Lines says it has recorded an operating profit of nearly $5 billion over the last twelve months.
This was contained in its financial results for the March quarter, which also provided its outlook for the June quarter 2023.
Commenting, Ed Bastian, Delta’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Thanks to the outstanding work and dedication of the Delta team, 2023 is off to a strong start. We provided well-deserved pay increases for our people and paid more profit sharing than the rest of the industry combined.
“Delta is building momentum, with the best people in the industry generating nearly $5 billion of operating profit over the last twelve months.
“For the June quarter, we expect to deliver record revenue and an adjusted operating margin of 14 to 16 percent with earnings per share of $2.00 to $2.25.
“With solid March quarter profitability and a strong outlook for the June quarter, we are confident in our full-year guidance for revenue growth of 15 to 20 percent year over year, earnings of $5 to $6 per share and free cash flow of over $2 billion.”
Delta’s March quarterly 2023 GAAP financial results show operating revenue of $12.8 billion, an operating loss of $277 million with an operating margin of (2.2)%, and pre-tax loss of $506 million with a pre-tax margin of (4)%.
With EPS of $0.57, there was an operating cash flow of $2.2 billion, payments on debt and finance lease obligations of $1.2 billion and total debt and finance lease obligations of $22 billion at quarter end.
However, March quarter 2023 adjusted financial results show operating revenue of $11.8 billion, 45% higher than the March quarter 2022 and 14% higher than the March quarter 2019, including a 1-point impact from flying at lower capacity than initially planned.
Also, there was an operating income of $546 million with an operating margin of 4.6%, pre-tax income of $217 million with a pre-tax margin of 1.8%, earnings per share of $0.25O, operating cash flow of $2.9 billion, free cash flow of $1.9 billion and $9.5 billion in liquidity and adjusted net debt of $21 billion at quarter end.
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
