By Gabriel Araujo
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA on Thursday reported higher-than-expected first quarter net income as currency gains helped offset higher fuel prices.
The company said its operating results were the best since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with quarterly sales coming in above the levels seen in the first quarter of 2019, prior to the health crisis.
Gol posted a quarterly net profit of 2.6 billion reais ($523.8 million), compared with a 394.8 million-real consensus from analysts polled by Refinitiv, reversing the multi billion-real losses of both a year and a quarter earlier.
The bottom line was boosted mainly by foreign exchange gains, Gol said, as Brazil’s real strengthened sharply against the U.S. dollar in the period.
The company disclosed preliminary traffic data for the first quarter earlier this month, noting its load factor rose by about 1 percentage point from last year. Available seat kilometers (ASK) grew roughly 44%.
Gol’s quarterly net revenue more than doubled year on year to 3.2 billion reais, beating the Refinitiv forecast of 2.92 billion reais.
“Our ability to emerge from one of the worst crises in the history of the airline industry as a more competitive company with strong results is a testament to our flexible business model,” Chief Executive Paulo Kakinoff said.
($1 = 4.9642 reais)
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by John Stonestreet, Kim Coghill and Jan Harvey)
