TAP had a loss of almost 1,600 million euros last year, despite the increase in the number of passengers transported and revenue compared to the previous year, according to the company.
In the information sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), the national air carrier explains that it recorded non-recurring costs of 1,024.9 million – for example, with the closure of maintenance operations in Brazil – which had an impact on results.
“It should also be noted the negative net impact of exchange rate differences (EUR 175.5 million) related to the depreciation of the euro against the dollar (with a strong impact on future rents and, therefore, no impact on cash this year), and also the depreciation of the real against the euro”, he adds.
In the information sent to the CMVM, the company also says that operating revenues reached 1,388.5 million euros, an increase of 328.4 million (+31.0%) compared to operating revenues in 2020.
In addition to the EUR 218.8 million increase in passenger revenues, “this figure was particularly favored by the increase in cargo and mail revenues, which increased by 88.0% (EUR 110.5 million), fully offsetting the decline EUR 13.7 million (-20.1% YoY) of maintenance revenues”, he explains.
In a press release released in the meantime, the company points to a “significant recovery of recurrent EBITDA in the second half of 2021, canceling the operating losses recorded during the first half, allowing the year 2021 to end with a positive recurrent EBITDA of 11.7 millions of euros”.
He recalls that the first half of 2021 “was marked by severe restrictions on domestic and international mobility due to the covid-19 pandemic, leading to an almost total immobilization of the airline’s planes for several months”.
During the second half of the year – he adds -, “there was a gradual reopening of borders, despite the fact that two of TAP’s main markets, Brazil and the USA, only resumed international flights with Portugal during the last quarter of the year”.
In terms of liquidity, as in the previous year, in 2021 TAP states that it continued to focus on its liquidity protection measures, “benefiting from the May and December 2021 capital increases of EUR 462 million and EUR 536 million , respectively (in the context of COVID-19 Damage Compensation and Restructuring Aid)”.
It also adds that it ended the year with 812.6 million euros in cash (+57% compared to the beginning of the year).
Regarding the network, throughout 2021, in addition to the reopening of destinations that were closed, TAP recalls that it launched new destinations, such as Montreal, Cancun, Punta Cana, Maceió, Zagreb, Ibiza, Fuerteventura, Agadir, Oujda, Monastir and Djerba.
He recalls that the war in Ukraine has given rise to relevant macroeconomic impacts, particularly in terms of international financing markets, namely the rise in interest rates, as well as the increase in fuel prices, including jet fuel, “which recorded a growth of more than 30% since the beginning of the conflict, and a set of goods and services which has given rise to increasing inflation”.
“Additionally, the conflict resulted in restrictions on the circulation of airspace near that region, restrictions that remain on the date of approval of these financial statements, as well as the imposition of economic, financial and other sanctions on the Russian Federation and on individuals associated with the Russian regime by the European Union, the United States and other countries, with impacts on the movement of people, goods and financial flows”, he adds.
It also underlines the uncertainty in the duration, extent and impact of this conflict, as well as the respective sanctions imposed, insisting that it is impossible to predict the possible effects that may result from it, “including the impacts on inflation and fuel prices in the coming months and years”.