Aeroflot announced a "paper" loss of ₽81 billion

Aeroflot received RUB 81.68 billion in the first half of 2023. loss against 80.7 billion rubles. net income a year earlier. The company explained this with paper write-offs due to the new accounting standard for aircraft leases.

Aeroflot airline received RUB 81.68 billion in the first half of 2023. net loss. A year earlier, the company had 80.7 billion rubles. net profit, according to her message received by RBC.

При этом выручка перевозчика выросла на 48,1%, до 205,4 млрд руб. В первом полугодии 2023 года «Аэрофлот» увеличил пассажирооборот на 51,4%, объем перевозок грузов и почты — на 18,2%, а занятость кресел выросла на 8,9 п.п., до 83,5% (на внутрироссийских рейсах — до 86,5%). Это и обеспечило рост выручки, отмечает первый заместитель гендиректора «Аэрофлота» по коммерции и финансам Андрей Чиханчин (его слова приводятся в сообщении компании).

But when analyzing financial results, it is necessary to apply new methodological reporting standards, namely the rental accounting standard developed by the Ministry of Finance, Chikhanchin points out. “Since 2022, we have been applying the FSBU 25/2018 “Lease Accounting” standard, according to which liabilities under lease agreements are taken into account on the balance sheet, and their revaluation is reflected in the income statement - “non-cash” profit or loss,” he said.

In connection with the devaluation of the ruble (according to the Central Bank, on June 30, 2022, $ 1 cost 51.16 rubles, on June 30, 2023 - 87 rubles), according to the new standard, in 2023 it was necessary to reassess the lease obligations at a higher rate and recognize the exchange rate loss, continues Chikhanchin. As of the end of June 2023, Aeroflot's debt under aircraft lease (leasing) agreements, denominated in foreign currency, amounted to $5.55 billion, the company said.

Aeroflot’s total leasing obligations, denominated not only in foreign currency, but also in rubles (for example, for Superjet aircraft), as of June 30, 2023, increased compared to December 31, 2021, when the company last disclosed financial statements under RAS, by 24.7%, from 425 billion to 530 billion rubles. The company does not provide general leasing obligations for the first half of this year. For a year and a half, the number of leased aircraft in the Aeroflot fleet decreased from 187 to 153. In addition, the company reported that during this time it bought 18 aircraft from lessors (eight Airbus A330 and ten Boeing 777), and also transferred ten Sukhoi Superjet airliners to its "daughter" - Rossiya Airlines, and several more were arrested abroad.

Aeroflot’s adjusted net loss (excluding revaluation of lease payments) in January-June 2023 amounted to RUB 1.6 billion. against a loss of 38.3 billion rubles. for the same period last year, emphasizes Chikhanchin. Thus, the "paper" loss from the revaluation of leasing obligations amounted to more than 80 billion rubles, concludes the company's press service.

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At the end of 2022, Aeroflot's revenue decreased by 12%, to 332.75 billion rubles, and the net loss (taking into account the revaluation of leases in foreign currency) decreased almost fourfold, from 53.75 billion to 14.3 billion rubles. in a company message.

Chikhanchin called a “forced” break in disclosing the company’s financial results from last year, after the start of a special operation in Ukraine and the imposition of international sanctions against Russia: “When deciding to limit the amount of information disclosure last year, we proceeded from the need to protect the interests of shareholders and investors in a situation transformational change in the company. According to him, over the past year, the top management of the carrier managed to “largely” stabilize the business., to ensure the continuity of operations and key business processes, including the operation and maintenance of aircraft. “We were able to restore domestic traffic indicators, launched more than 70 international lines and set new goals and benchmarks for ourselves, which formed the basis of a long-term development strategy until 2030,” he concluded.