By Sergio Goncalves LISBON, April 9 (Reuters) - Portugal's airline TAP said on Thursday its 2025 profit fell 92% due to a one-off fourth‑quarter charge which outweighed higher revenue from increased
TAP Portugal 2025 Profit Slumps 92% Despite Solid Revenue and Bookings
Financial Performance and Strategic Developments
By Sergio Goncalves
Profit Decline and Contributing Factors
LISBON, April 9 (Reuters) - Portugal's airline TAP said on Thursday its 2025 profit fell 92% due to a one-off fourth‑quarter charge which outweighed higher revenue from increased passenger numbers and stronger margins.
Booking Momentum and Market Response
TAP said it sees positive booking momentum, while "actively monitoring" developments in the Iran war, adding it will be "nimble" in responding to any operating environment changes.
CEO Remarks on Resilience
TAP's CEO Luis Rodrigues said that despite a challenging environment, with cost inflation and significant industry-wide supply chain and operational constraints, it "maintained resilient margins and strengthened its financial position".
Expansion Plans and Network Growth
Rodrigues said TAP will launch two new routes to Brazil, increasing its network there to 15 destinations, while expanding operations at Porto with new routes and a maintenance hub.
Profit Details and One-Off Charges
The state-owned flag carrier, which is being partially privatised, booked a net profit of just 4.1 million euros ($4.78 million), down from 53.7 million euros in 2024. This still marked a fourth straight year of profit for the airline.
Impact of Tax Asset Revaluation
The drop was mainly due to a 42 million euros one-off fourth-quarter charge from a downward revaluation of deferred tax assets - future tax credits it will use - after parliament in November cut the corporate tax rate from 20% to 17% by 2028.
Quarterly Losses
TAP posted a 51 million euros loss in the fourth quarter.
Operational Performance and Outlook
Rodrigues said that despite the one-off charge, TAP delivered "solid results, supported by resilient demand across its network, particularly in the second half of the year", and by a relevant contribution from the maintenance business.
Revenue, Costs, and Margins
TAP said "resilient demand and positive booking momentum" should support higher load factors and stronger unit revenues, with fuel price rises partly offset by ticket price increases.
Full‑year revenue rose 1.2% to 4.31 billion euros on a 1.6% increase in passenger numbers to more than 16 million.
Operating costs rose 1.8% to 4.02 billion euros in 2025, as higher traffic, staff and depreciation expenses were partly offset by lower fuel costs.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 4.4% to 725.8 million euros, while EBITDA margin - a measure of profitability - increased to 16.8% from 16.3% in 2024.
($1 = 0.8579 euros)
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Alexander Smith)
