Air traffic: Lufthansa pays back German state aid

air traffic
Lufthansa pays back German state aid

After a successful Corona rescue, Lufthansa repaid the direct German state aid.

The two silent participations of the state economic stabilization fund (WSF) were redeemed with interest and terminated, as the company reported on Friday in Frankfurt. In February, the MDax group had already repaid a loan of 1 billion euros from the state-owned KfW bank. The WSF remains the largest shareholder in the group for the time being with a good 14 percent.

The state aid from Austria, Belgium and Switzerland has not yet been repaid, as a Lufthansa spokesman said on request. Overall, the states had granted the group an auxiliary framework of 9 billion euros in the Corona crisis, of which, however, never more than four billion euros were exhausted.

Thanks to the federal government and taxpayers

Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr thanked the federal government and taxpayers on Friday and said: “In the worst financial crisis in our company’s history, they gave us prospects for the future. As a result, we were able to save more than 100,000 jobs. ” Nonetheless, more than 30,000 jobs were lost worldwide, and there are currently still overhangs in the domestic team.

After the state rescue operation, the company had been supplying itself with new liquidity in several steps on the capital market since November last year. In addition, a capital increase was decided in October, which brought in 2.2 billion euros. Spohr had always emphasized that he would rather be indebted to the capital market than to taxpayers. With the repayment, Lufthansa also loses its entrepreneurial shackles. Takeovers and dividend payments will be possible again, as will bonus payments to managers.

Finally again with buoyancy

Many vacationer flights in the summer, the strong cargo business and the reopening of the US borders for Europeans had recently given Lufthansa a boost. Even if a billion-dollar loss is expected again for the year as a whole, an initial operating profit in the summer quarter was seen as a signal for a start – especially since important competitors such as the British Airways parent company IAG fared significantly worse.

With the repayment of the silent contributions, the prerequisites have been created for the WSF to completely part with its block of shares. The sale may begin in five months at the earliest and must be completed by October 2023 at the latest, as the federal government once again confirmed. The WSF has already scaled back its stake, which it had acquired for a good 300 million euros, and sold shares on the stock exchange. After the capital increase, he still holds 14.09 percent of the share capital of the Lufthansa Group.

The federal government welcomed the quick repayment of the state aid decided in May 2020. “The crane has a lot of buoyancy again,” emphasized Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD). It was important and right that the state helped the company through the difficult times and thus secured thousands of jobs. Scholz added: “And it was good business for the state treasury – because it looks like the state will make a plus at the end of its commitment.” Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) added: “Our instruments work and provide the right incentives for a quick return to independence.”

dpa