ITA's finances improving, all set for Lufthansa deal, says chairman
ROME, Nov 20 (Reuters) -Italy's ITA Airways is heading for a full-year profit and is in good financial shape for a planned tie-up with Lufthansa LHAG.DE which can yield significant synergies, the Italian carrier's chairman Antonino Turicchi said in a newspaper interview on Wednesday.
Lufthansa LHAG.DE said last week it had submitted a package of remedies to the European Commission required to secure EU antitrust approval to take a minority stake in state-owned ITA, bringing it a step closer to closing the deal.
Turicchi told daily Il Messaggero that the company's earnings before interest and tax stood at 40 million euros ($42.36 million) at the end of October and would close the year in positive territory, and it had cash reserves of over 550 million euros.
"We have shown with facts that we are a competitive and profitable company," Turicchi said.
Core profit, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at 309 million euros at the end of October, Turicchi said, an increase of 213 million compared with the same period last year.
He estimated synergies from the tie up with Lufthansa of 300-400 million euros through 2027, and said the company could increase its workforce in 2025 if market trends remain positive as he expected.
Lufthansa in July won EU antitrust approval to buy 41% of ITA, the successor airline to bankrupt Alitalia, for 325 million euros ($354 million), in a deal designed to boost its presence in the lucrative southern European market.
A recent row between the companies over an apparent price difference appeared to be overcome after Italy's Treasury also submitted to Brussels the remedies to win antitrust approval, and an Italian source said Lufthansa had dropped its request for a discount.
($1 = 0.9442 euros)
Reporting by Gavin Jones, Editing by Louise Heavens
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