By Gabriel Araujo
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes reported on Tuesday a net loss of 884.6 million reais ($160.54 million) for the third quarter as traffic remained below pre-pandemic levels.
That compared with a loss of 872 million reais a year earlier and the company said that while demand for air travel continued to pick up in Brazil, it has still only reached 53% of pre-pandemic levels.
Gol said that including losses from the steep depreciation of the Brazilian real and non-recurring items, its quarterly net loss totalled 2.53 billion reais, widening from a loss of 1.72 billion reais a year earlier.
The group's net revenue totaled 1.9 billion reais in the third quarter, up 96.4% year-on-year, while adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) came in at 464.7 million reais, a 63.6% rise.
The airline said it expects capacity to grow 29% in the fourth quarter year-on-year on the back of higher vaccination rates, Brazil's summer traveling season and the resumption of international flights.
"We expect a growth in sales through the end of the year and are confident that the trend will continue into 2022," Chief Executive Paulo Kakinoff said in a securities filing.
The airline's liquidity is expected to reach 3.8 billion reais by the end of the year, from a total liquidity of 2.08 billion reais in the third quarter. Net debt is seen at 15.8 billion reais, versus 15.5 billion reais for the quarter ended in September.
($1 = 5.5103 reais)