Germany's Lufthansa sees strong rise in 2nd-quarter earnings, helped by falling fuel costs

Lufthansa says its earnings trebled in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, helped by falling fuel costs.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which includes airlines such as Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Germanwings, on Thursday reported net earnings of 529 million euros ($584 million) for the April-June period, up from 173 million euros a year earlier. Revenue rose 8.9 percent to 8.39 billion euros from 7.7 billion euros.

Lufthansa confirmed its full-year outlook for adjusted pre-tax earnings of over 1.5 billion euros before strike costs.

The second quarter saw no strikes by Lufthansa's pilots in a long-running dispute that has led to repeated disruptions.

Chief financial officer Simone Menne said, alongside "extra momentum" for Lufthansa's passenger airlines, "the fall in fuel costs is largely responsible for the improvement in our results."