By Gabriel Araujo
SAO PAULO Brazilian airline Azul on Thursday reported a narrower second-quarter loss, beating market expectations, and its shares jumped almost 9% as it provided its first updates after completing a broad restructuring plan earlier this year.
Sao Paulo-traded shares of Brazil's largest airline in number of flights and cities served jumped as much as 8.9% after the report, making it one of the top gainers on Brazil's Bovespa stock index, as analysts voiced optismism about the company's future.
Azul posted an adjusted loss of 1.33 real per share for the three months ended in June, an improvement from the 1.77-real loss seen a year ago.
The loss was less than the 1.49-real loss per share projected by analysts polled by Refinitiv, with earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also beating expectations at 1.15 billion reais ($237.34 million).
"The EBITDA margin at 27%, despite the weak seasonality of the second quarter, signals the company is on track to continue improving its profitability in the coming quarters," analysts at Itau BBA said in a note to clients.
Chief Financial Officer Alex Malfitani told reporters in a news conference that expectations are for an EBITDA of 6 billion reais or more in 2024.
After inking deals in March with aircraft lessors to give them equity and tradeable debt in exchange for lower payments, the airline announced in June an exchange offer to delay the maturities of bonds expiring in 2024 and 2026 and later raised $800 million in notes due 2028.
Chief Executive John Rodgerson dubbed the second quarter one of Azul's most important ever because of the progress it made on that front.
"We are excited for the upcoming months as we enter the strongest seasonal period of the year with a very constructive demand, pricing and capacity environment," Rodgerson added in a statement.
Azul said it plans to complete the renegotiations of its obligations with lessors and equipment manufacturers no later than September, estimating lease payments to be reduced by 1.5 billion reais in 2023 and 1.1 billion in 2024.
Analysts at BTG Pactual said investors should pay less attention to the second quarter and instead focus on the conclusion of the restructuring plan, a volume rebound in the second half and Azul's competitive dynamics.
"Despite our current 'neutral' rating, we are increasingly positive on Azul," they said. "In case cost structure remains under control and long-term rates continue to decrease, we see room for the stock to continue to re-rate."
($1 = 4.8454 reais)
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by David Gregorio)
