Hungarian national airline Malev posted a pre-tax loss of 13.5 billion forints (USD$65.41 million) on sales of 110.7 billion forints in 2003, according to final figures, it said in a statement after its annual general meeting.
The airline had an operating loss of 9.5 billion forints in 2003, with a smaller part of the loss coming from core activity and 5.2 billion forints from other expenditures.
Currently Malev is re-positioning itself ahead of tough competition, mainly from low-cost carriers, inside the European Union where treaties protecting national airlines are outlawed.
Malev, one of central Europe's smaller, state-owned airlines, hopes to join the SkyTeam alliance by November. SkyTeam, set up in 2000, includes Delta, Italy's Alitalia and Air France among others.
Malev's controlling owner, the State Privatisation Holding (APV), approved a 10 billion forints capital injection in December for the airline -- ahead of Hungary's entry to the EU on May 1 after which new state aid is not allowed -- holding back three billion forints pending heavy savings.
APV said in April that it linked the pending three billion forints to a business plan aimed at returning Malev to profit already in 2004. The aid will be paid in October at the earliest if the firm's August results show the required improvement.
