Chile's LATAM Airlines posts first yearly profit in history

Regional carrier LATAM Airlines posted a net profit of $69m for all of 2016 on Wednesday, its first yearly profit since the company formed four years ago, helped by improving conditions in key market Brazil. The Chile-based airline, Latin America's largest, posted a $54m profit for Q4. Both figures beat forecasts by analysts surveyed by Reuters, who saw on average a 2016 profit of $23.5m and a Q4 profit of $8.5m. "The good results can be explained principally by Brazil, given the appreciation of the real currency and the reduction of capacity, as well as fleet readjustments," said Gisela Escobar, direct of investor relations. LATAM said it was reducing its 2016-2018 fleet commitment by $2.2b. It maintained its guidance for a 2017 operating margin of between 6 and 8%. Fleet commitments for 2018 will amount to $555m, a reduction of $1b compared with Sept. 16, the airline said. The company forecast that available seat miles, a measure of capacity, would grow 1 to 2% in 2017, a boost over its 2016 guidance of between -1 and 1%. Economic difficulties in Brazil, LATAM's key market, had caused problems for the carrier in recent years. In 2015, the company posted a net loss of $219m, largely thanks to depreciation in that nation's currency.<br/>