Deutsche Lufthansa said a €140 million ($185.5 million) impairment charge on shares of German airport operator Fraport hit its bottom line in the first quarter.
Nonetheless, Lufthansa still expected its operating profit to remain clearly positive this year, albeit substantially below last year's €1.35 billion, the German flagship carrier said in its full first-quarter financial report today.
Lufthansa posted a worse than expected first-quarter net loss of €256 million, which it blamed on one-off effects.
Airlines are struggling to remain profitable as businesses and consumers cut travel during the recession. World airlines are set to lose a total $4.7 billion this year, industry body International Air Transport Association said last month.
Citigroup said this week European airlines could post a collective first-quarter operating loss of €1.8 billion, as revenue from business travel and air cargo drops by as much as a quarter and overall passenger numbers fall 8 percent.
Adding to airlines' woes, the industry is now also starting to be hit by worries over a swine flu outbreak that has sparked fears of a pandemic.
Lufthansa shares have fallen around 3 per cent over the past week. British Airways and Air France-KLM, Lufthansa's two closest rivals, have lost around 11 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.
Reuters