Crisis-hit Scandinavian airline SAS has reported a fourth-quarter loss that was much deeper than a year earlier and said it may take longer than previously expected to complete its ongoing bankruptcy protection process.
The long struggling carrier, which sought bankruptcy protection in July in the United States as it tries to slash costs and debt, said its fiscal fourth-quarter pretax loss grew to 1.70 billion Swedish crowns from 945 million.
SAS, whose biggest owners are the Swedish and Danish governments, said in a statement it aimed to complete its bankruptcy protection process during the second half of 2023. It has said earlier it aimed to conclude it within 12 months from launching it.
"The implementation ... is likely to entail additional legal proceedings in other jurisdictions than the U.S. As a result, there is no assurance that there will be any recovery for the shareholders of SAS AB," it said on Wednesday, without providing more detail.
SAS hopes to cut costs by 7.5 billion crowns, raise at least 9.5 billion in new equity and convert more than 20 billion of debt into equity as part of its rescue plan.
SAS, which is refocusing towards more leisure travel with peak demand during summer in the Nordic hemisphere, said underlying demand remained good in the fourth quarter although with a slight slowdown in October.
