Brazil's TAM Airlines reports 350 mln USD losses

Brazil's TAM Airlines Thursday reported it closed the third quarter of 2011 with losses of 617.9 million Brazilian reais (about 350 million U.S. dollars). As opposed to the net profit of 733.5 million reais (415 million dollars) reported in the same period of 2010, this year's negative balance is due to the change in the real's value, the company said. "Despite the impact, our operative results in the third quarter were very solid," TAM Chairman Libano Barroso said in a statement. TAM's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) between July and September was 739 million reais (416 million dollars), 13.8 percent lower than in the same period of 2010. The Brazilian airline invoicing during the third quarter of 2011 reached 3,300 million reais (1.860 billion dollars), which means an increase of 13.3 percent. TAM, which is in a merger process with Chile's LAN Airlines, reported the largest foreign flights' occupancy rate in one quarter with 83.7 percent between July and September. During the third quarter of 2011, TAM has transported 1.5 million passengers, which is 7.2 percent more than in the same period of 2010. Regarding domestic flights, during the third quarter of 2011, TAM had about 7.9 million passengers with an increase of 2.6 percent compared with the same period in 2010. Once completed, the two companies' merger will create the largest airline in the South American region and the 11th largest in the world based on passenger numbers.