LATAM Airlines Group posted improved fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 earnings as international capacity surged and domestic demand remained strong.
The Santiago-based company on 23 February reported a $582 million profit for 2023 – a company record. Adjusted for special items such as aircraft rental income and employee compensation associated with a corporate incentive plan, LATAM says it made $741 million.
In 2022, the airline’s adjusted profit was $1.6 billion, which included “positive non-operational impacts” relating to its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and restructuring.
Full-year 2023 revenue for Latin America’s largest airline was $11.8 billion, up 23.9% from 2022’s $9.52 billion, LATAM says. Its passenger revenue rose 33.8% year on year, making up for a 17.4% decline in cargo revenue caused by “softening yields”.
LATAM’s operating expenses rose 11.5% year on year owing primarily to a surge in international capacity as effects from the global Covid-19 pandemic waned.
During the fourth quarter of 2023, LATAM generated $3.25 billion in revenue, up 18.5% from the same three months in 2022, and posted an $83 million profit.
“LATAM group focused on profitable growth throughout the year and continuing to offer the most-expansive regional and global network,” chief executive Roberto Alvo says. “In this regard, the respective affiliates of the group are ranked first place in three of the five domestic markets where they operate.”
LATAM Airlines Chile has 61% of the market share, the company’s Peru subsidiary has 64% of that country’s market share and LATAM Airlines Brazil achieved a record 39% market share, the airline says. LATAM Airlines Colombia increased its market share to 33%, up from 24% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.
“This is a clear demonstration of the group’s operational agility and financial flexibility,” Alvo says.
LATAM’s full-year 2023 load factor also rose 1.8 percentage points, to 83.1%.
During 2023, the airline group carried nearly 74 million passengers, up from 62.5 million in 2022 and marking a return to levels similar to prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of passengers transported in the domestic markets of LATAM group’s affiliates in Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru rose 10.7% year on year, while its international passenger volume jumped 50.1%.
During 2023, the group added five widebody and 25 narrowbody aircraft to its fleet, bringing its total fleet to 333 aircraft. It expects to have 339 aircraft at the end of this year, and 353 by the end-2025.
LATAM also ordered five Boeing 787 Dreamliners last year. Those jets are expected to join the fleet from 2027.
In December, the company raised its 2024 financial guidance figures, and now expects full-year revenue between $12.4 and $12.8 billion.
