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Empresas y finanzas

Northwest posts net loss on hedging charge


    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Northwest Airlines , which plans to merge this year with Delta Air Lines , posted a quarterly net loss on Wednesday due to a non-cash charge related to fuel hedges.

    The company said its third-quarter net loss was $317 million, or $1.20 per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $244 million, or 93 cents per share.

    Excluding the non-cash charge of $410 million, Northwest earned a profit of $93 million, or 35 cents per share.

    Wall Street had expected the company to earn 22 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

    The airline industry has been battered severely this year by high jet fuel prices that soared alongside crude oil, which hit a record in July. Prices have since plummeted, causing some airline fuel-hedge portfolios to lose value.

    To combat high fuel bills, Northwest and Delta are merging to form the world's largest carrier by traffic.

    Northwest said operating revenue was $3.80 billion, a gain of 12.4 percent.

    The company ended the quarter with $3.4 billion in unrestricted liquidity.

    (Reporting by Kyle Peterson; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)