LATAM Airlines 'very cautious' on Brazil demand outlook

LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America's largest airline, is still "very cautious" on the outlook for its key domestic Brazilian market, with demand volatile, a top executive of the company said on Friday. "We have seen some very positive weeks in terms of demand in Brazil," CFO Ramiro Alfonsin told investors on a conference call following the release of Q2 earnings. "But we're still very cautious because we've also seen that certain weeks are not very good," he added. "Internationally, we're doing very well but domestic in Brazil I would say we're cautious still on the second half of the year," he said. Alfonsin added the company had "some concerns" on Argentine domestic demand, without elaborating on the reasons. The company did not plan to change margin guidance of 6 to 8% at the current time, due to the cloudy Brazilian and Argentine outlook and one-off payments linked to an ongoing cost reduction plan, he said. Late Thursday, Santiago-based LATAM LTM.SN reported a larger-than-expected Q2 net loss, hurt by currency effects. However, investors were cheered by rising operating income and growth in its international operations.<br/>