With Lufthansa's recovery from the corona crisis, CEO Carsten Spohr believes that the company's rise to the DAX is getting closer.

"The capital markets have great confidence in the crane again," explained Spohr according to the speech text for the Annual General Meeting on May 9, which was published on Monday evening. At more than eleven billion euros, the company's market capitalization was only higher in 2017. The majority of analysts are currently recommending the share as a buy. "And the prospects for a return to the DAX are good." The DAX founding member was relegated to the MDax in 2020. Lufthansa had to be rescued from bankruptcy by the state due to the slump in business during the coronavirus pandemic.

Deutsche Börse reviews the composition of the leading index at the beginning of each quarter, taking the market value of the free float as a basis. For Lufthansa, this is currently around 9.7 billion euros. This puts the airline just below the threshold that would qualify it for promotion to the first stock exchange league in June. Should it then not qualify for "fast entry", it could return in September.

Last year, the aviation group was profitable again after two years of losses in the billions. After an adjusted operating result of 1.5 billion euros and a consolidated net profit of just under 800 million euros, profits are expected to increase significantly in 2023 and a dividend will be paid again. In the current financial year, the Executive Board expects all eleven Group airlines to be in the black for the first time, said Spohr. The airlines - such as Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines in addition to Lufthansa and Eurowings - are becoming increasingly successful in dovetailing and thus leveraging the economies of scale of the entire Group. Another company, the Italian ITA Airways, is to be added soon. Talks with the Italian government about a share purchase with the option of a complete takeover are well underway.

The synergies of the maintenance subsidiary Lufthansa Technik with the core business are also great, Spohr continued. Therefore, only a minority share will be sold. "A decision on this will be made in the coming months."

(Report by Ilona Wissenbach, Hakan Ersen; edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any queries, please contact the editorial team at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)