Brazil airline Azul narrows loss, beating forecasts; shares jump

Brazilian airline Azul on Thursday reported a narrower Q2 loss, beating market expectations, and its shares jumped almost 9% as it provided its first updates after completing a broad restructuring plan earlier this year. Sao Paulo-traded shares of Brazil's largest airline in number of flights and cities served jumped as much as 8.9% after the report, making it one of the top gainers on Brazil's Bovespa stock index, as analysts voiced optismism about the company's future.<br/>Azul posted an adjusted loss of 1.33 real per share for the three months ended in June, an improvement from the 1.77-real loss seen a year ago. The loss was less than the 1.49-real loss per share projected by analysts polled by Refinitiv, with earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also beating expectations at 1.15b reais ($237.34m). "The EBITDA margin at 27%, despite the weak seasonality of the second quarter, signals the company is on track to continue improving its profitability in the coming quarters," analysts at Itau BBA said in a note to clients. CFO Alex Malfitani told reporters in a news conference that expectations are for an EBITDA of 6b reais or more in 2024. After inking deals in March with aircraft lessors to give them equity and tradeable debt in exchange for lower payments, the airline announced in June an exchange offer to delay the maturities of bonds expiring in 2024 and 2026 and later raised $800m in notes due 2028.<br/>