BA's loss 'less than expected'

BRITISH Airways today reported a less-than-expected quarterly loss of £50 million – but warned it still faced a record annual shortfall.

The airline said hefty cost- cutting measures had helped improve performance in the three months to 31 December. Analysts had expected the firm to post a much greater loss of 150 million in the period. BA also reported its first operating profit for more than a year for the quarter.

Chief executive Willie Walsh said the results reflect "permanent change" to the business and said operating costs were down more than 10 per cent.

BA has yet to stem the fall in passenger numbers and today said these were down 8.7 per cent for the UK and Europe in January compared to a year earlier.