(new: statements from press conference on strike costs, collective bargaining, end of strike in front of Group headquarters, updated share price reaction)

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - In the midst of the ground staff strike, Lufthansa must prepare for an end to its upward flight. The return of the desire to travel and higher ticket prices brought the Group the third-highest profit in its history in day-to-day business in 2023. But further big leaps are not in sight, estimates CEO Carsten Spohr. The sharp rise in ticket prices since the coronavirus pandemic should be over for now. Shareholders can at least look forward to a dividend again, as Lufthansa announced in Frankfurt on Thursday. However, the news did not trigger a clear reaction on the stock market.

The Lufthansa share price fluctuated between minus 1.8 and plus 1.8 percent until the early afternoon. Most recently, the share was one of the weaker stocks in the MDax, the index of medium-sized stocks, with a discount of just under one percent. This continued the downward trend of recent months: the share price has fallen by around 13 percent since the turn of the year.

The Management Board now wants to bring the strike-happy employees back to the negotiating table as quickly as possible. After all, the labor disputes have already cost the Group around 100 million euros in profits this year. During the presentation of the financial statements, striking technicians, counter staff and administrative employees marched in front of the Group headquarters at Frankfurt Airport to demonstrate for higher salaries. The strikes are to continue on Friday.

"The union's strategy at the moment seems to be escalation," said Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources Officer and responsible for more than 100 collective agreements with the various professional groups within the Group. The lawyer cannot quite understand why there are currently strikes in many parts of the Group. He points to salary increases in the past, profit sharing of around 500 million euros last year and what he describes as "above-average and negotiable" wage offers. He says: "We offer some of the best conditions in the industry. But the costs must remain competitive."

Niggemann also called on the cabin union Ufo, which is ready to strike after a successful ballot, to negotiate. Last-minute exploratory talks have apparently not led to a rapprochement, making a strike by the approximately 19,000 flight attendants next week increasingly likely.

CEO Carsten Spohr announced that operating profits for the current year would only be on a par with the previous year. High investments in new aircraft and information technology are intended to improve comfort for customers, who have suffered greatly during the coronavirus pandemic. "Ticket prices will remain stable," said Spohr.

Lufthansa will not be offering as many tickets as before the pandemic again in 2024 due to bottlenecks in aircraft, spare parts and maintenance capacity. 94 percent of the pre-corona level is the target for 2024; in the following year, Spohr wants to reach the 2019 level again for the first time. Shareholders are to receive a dividend again after four years of a zero dividend. At 30 cents per share, however, it is at the lower end of the possible range, as outgoing CFO Remco Steenbergen explained.

CEO Spohr sees the Group returning to its former financial strength after the struggle for survival during the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, Lufthansa achieved an operating profit (adjusted EBIT) of just under EUR 2.7 billion before special items - around 76 percent more than in the previous year, which was still dominated by the pandemic. Only in 2017 and 2018, around the bankruptcy of its then rival Air Berlin, did the Group earn more in its day-to-day business. The bottom line was a net profit of 1.7 billion euros, more than twice as much as in 2022 and the fifth-highest result in the company's history.

In contrast to 2022, the passenger business again contributed the lion's share of the profit last year with 123 million passengers. The Group's own passenger airlines returned to the black with an adjusted operating result of EUR 2 billion, after posting a loss of EUR 300 million in the previous year. The subsidiaries Swiss, Austrian, Brussels, Eurowings and Discover achieved record results - as did the maintenance division Lufthansa Technik. In the fall, the Executive Board called off the partial sale of the maintenance subsidiary, which had been planned in the meantime.

Meanwhile, the freight division Lufthansa Cargo was unable to repeat its record figures from the pandemic years. While it had earned 1.6 billion euros in day-to-day business in 2022, this time it only contributed 219 million euros. The recovery in passenger traffic around the world meant that there was much more space available in the cargo holds of passenger jets. This made air freight transportation significantly cheaper again for customers./stw/ceb/DP/mis