By John Bowker
LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways slumped to a record loss, nearly doubled its debt pile and cancelled its dividend, adding the tough conditions made it impossible to give any guidance for the current period.
Europe's third-biggest airline by revenue posted operating losses of 220 million poundson Friday, compared to a profit of 875 million pounds in 2007/08.
It had earlier in the year forecast a loss of 150 million pounds, not including restructuring costs of around 80 million.
"The revenue outlook continues to be weak during the current financial year... In light of this, the board is unable to recommend a dividend this year," Chairman Martin Broughton said in a statement.
BA said it would continue cost-cutting, while flying capacity for next winter will be cut by 4 percent.
The British carrier's debt rose to 2.4 billion pounds, from 1.3 billion the previous year, while its cash position slid 483 million pounds to just under 1.4 billion pounds.
PENSION DEFICIT
Analysts and shareholders have been concerned about the group's pension deficit, which was valued at 1.5 billion pounds at March last year but is likely to have grown substantially since then.
"If the financial markets deteriorate further, our pension deficit may increase, impacting balance sheet liabilities, which may in turn affect our ability to raise additional funds," the company said in the statement.
A full actuarial review of the retirement scheme is currently underway, with the results expected to be published in late summer.
The pension deficit has been an issue during merger talks with Spanish partner Iberia, but the Madrid-based airline said last week it was more focussed on its own performance than the tie-up discussions.
British Airways shares, up 14 percent this month, closed down 3.5 percent at 162.8 pence on Thursday, valuing the business at 1.9 billion pounds.
Air France-KLM showed a glimmer of hope for the battered industry earlier this week when it posted a narrower than expected operating loss, also by squeezing costs.
(Reporting by John Bowker, Editing by Matt Scuffham and Mike Nesbit)