Brazilian airline Gol reports Q3 loss, expects better Q4

Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes reported Tuesday a net loss of 884.6m reais ($160.54m) for Q3 as traffic remained below pre-pandemic levels. That compared with a loss of 872m reais a year earlier and the company said that while demand for air travel continued to pick up in Brazil, it has still only reached 53% of pre-pandemic levels. Gol said that including losses from the steep depreciation of the Brazilian real and non-recurring items, its quarterly net loss totalled 2.53b reais, widening from a loss of 1.72b reais a year earlier. The group's net revenue totaled 1.9b reais in Q3, up 96.4% year-on-year, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at 464.7m reais, a 63.6% rise. The airline said it expects capacity to grow 29% in Q4 year-on-year on the back of higher vaccination rates, Brazil's summer traveling season and the resumption of international flights. "We expect a growth in sales through the end of the year and are confident that the trend will continue into 2022," CE Paulo Kakinoff said in a securities filing. The airline's liquidity is expected to reach 3.8b reais by the end of the year, from a total liquidity of 2.08b reais in Q3. Net debt is seen at 15.8b reais, versus 15.5b reais for the quarter ended in September.<br/>