Transat A.T. Inc. reported its second-quarter loss grew compared with a year ago as it worked to capitalize on a recovery in the travel business.
The Montreal-based company says the recovery that was temporarily slowed down by the Omicron variant earlier this year is now firmly entrenched.
Transat CEO Annick Guérard says sales are progressing in a “very satisfactory manner” for the summer.
The company says its net loss attributable to shareholders amounted to $98.3 million or $2.60 per diluted share for the quarter ended April 30. The result compared with a loss of $69.6 million or $1.84 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $358.2 million compared with $7.6 million in the same quarter last year when Air Transat, the company’s airline, suspended operations after Ottawa requested a suspension of travel to Mexico and the Caribbean as well as the adoption of new quarantine measures and testing requirements.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $2.95 per diluted share compared with an adjusted loss of $2.74 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
“The cost of fuel rose sharply, without which we would have reported positive adjusted operating results in April,” Guérard said in a statement.
“Nonetheless, we observe that consumers are ready to accept price hikes and we have implemented a fuel hedging program to protect us against significant increases during the summer.”
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