By Katherine Hamilton

Air Canada posted a wider loss in the first quarter and trimmed its full-year outlook as it expects an unsteady demand environment going forward.

The Montreal airline on Thursday posted operating revenue of 5.2 billion Canadian dollars, equivalent to roughly USD$3.73 billion. That fell below the C$5.28 billion expected by analysts.

The company had a loss of C$102 million, or 40 Canadian cents a share, during the first quarter, compared with a loss of C$81 million, or 22 Canadian cents a share, the prior year.

Stripping out one-time expenses, the company's adjusted loss per share was 45 Canadian cents. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 52 Canadian cents.

Chief Executive Michael Rousseau said he expects market conditions to be unsteady moving forward as the economic outlook appears uncertain. The company is moderating expectations and concentrating on cost management and capacity adjustments to mitigate, he said.

Air Canada cut its full-year outlook for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation between C$3.2 billion and C$3.6 billion, down from previous guidance of C$3.4 billion to C$3.8 billion. It also now expects available seat mile capacity to grow 1% to 3%, rather than the 3% to 5% expansion it previously anticipated.

The lower guidance is based on recent trends in the commercial-airline environment and fuel prices, the company said.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 08, 2025 17:10 ET (21:10 GMT)

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