For 2014, the Air France KLM group posted stable sales of 24.9 billion euros (+0.31TP3Q), and net debt of 5.41 billion euros. Alexandre de Juniac intends to reduce this figure to €5 billion by the end of 2015. Faced with the economic consequences of the pilots' strike in September - €425 million according to management - the airline group's CEO did not fail to emphasise the positive aspects of this balance sheet: "The results for the financial year speak for themselves: Despite a difficult economic and competitive environment, adjusted for the impact of the Air France pilots' strike, EBITDA would have increased by more than 50% in 3 years, and operating cash flow would have more than tripled to almost 1.5 billion euros", he said.
In line with the turnaround strategy initiated by Air France KLM with the Transform 2015 and Perform 2020 plans, the Air France KLM group will continue to apply "strict financial discipline". A voluntary redundancy plan (800 full-time equivalents) should help to reduce costs, while the €300 million investment plan has been scaled back. The Air France KLM group therefore intends to err on the side of caution, even if new growth levers are being studied. Counting on "selective but significant growth", Alexandre de Juniac has reaffirmed the group's Asian ambitions, which are based on new partnerships in the region. "Three or four partners wouldn't be unthinkable", says de Juniac, who prefers to remain discreet about the details of this "Looking East" project. At the same time, Transavia should continue to build on the new momentum generated by the Group, which is already planning to make it the leading low-cost airline at Orly by 2015.
