German airline Lufthansa is taking over control of UK carrier bmi, it was announced today.
Lufthansa already had a 30% stake in bmi (formerly British Midland) and the German carrier is understood to be buying a further 50% stake for around £318m sterling.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa has reported a 75% nosedive in net profit in the third quarter, blaming high fuel costs and weakened sales because of the global financial crisis.
The airline posted €149m in net profit between July and September, after saying yesterday that it would cut its 2008 operating profit target to €1.1 billion from €1.38 billion, the same figure it posted last year.
Operating profit in the third quarter plunged by 53.4% to €279m, the company said in a statement.
'This is a respectable result taking into consideration the considerable strains being felt as a result of the ongoing crisis in the financial markets and the overall economic situation,' chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber said.
'In addition, we are working on our productivity, our measures to improve fuel consumption and the reduction of external costs.'
In the first nine months of the year, operating profit fell by 9.3% to €984m. Net profit during the same period plummeted by 65.1% to €551m.
The company's results had been inflated in 2007 by Lufthansa's acquisition of the airline Swiss and the sale of its stake in the British travel group Thomas Cook.
Lufthansa forecast only minor growth in passenger numbers due to market turmoil, expecting them to rise by just 0.8% in 2009 compared to 5.2% this year.
Airlines have seen some relief as oil prices have fallen from record highs in July but it has not been enough to boost the latest results.
Airlines worldwide are expected to lose around $5.2 billion this year owing to sharply higher oil prices and declining demand, the industry association IATA said on October 17.
