Börse Express – Lufthansa rescue: Thiele expects a multi-year renovation phase

After the state rescue of Lufthansa
Major shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele expects that the restructuring of the German airline will take “five to six years”. “It will be a painful path for everyone involved,” said Thiele in an interview with “Bild am Sonntag”. But: “how painful, nobody can say that today.” In any case, it is about “making Lufthansa sustainable.” For this purpose, the management will draft a restructuring plan.

“Due to the extensive loans that have to be paid interest and repaid, reducing personnel and material costs is not enough,” said Thiele. “Subsidiaries of subsidiaries also have to be put to the test. You have to look at everything that is not necessary for the absolute core operation for the next few years,” said the major shareholder. This also includes the catering business in Europe or parts of Lufthansa technology.

The shareholders of the MDax group had approved a 20 percent capital participation of the Federal Republic on Thursday. This means that Lufthansa can continue to fly with German state aid. The aid package has a volume of nine billion euros. In advance, the self-made billionaire Thiele had commented critically on what he thought was too strong state influence. / Gma / DP / zb

 ISIN  DE0008232125

AXC0003 2020-06-28/09:02

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