Delta's June Quarter Among Most Profitable in Company History

deltaDelta Air Lines reported financial results for the June 2013 quarter, including a net profit of $844 million, excluding special items. The result is a record June quarter profit excluding special items and is a $258 million improvement year-over-year, Delta said.

Other Delta highlights: Including $159 million in special items, Delta's GAAP net income was $685 million.The company announced a balanced capital deployment plan, targeted at creating up to $5 billion of value for shareholders by 2017 through further debt reduction and the return of more than $1 billion to shareholders over the next three years by means of $200 million of annual dividends and a $500 million share repurchase program.

Delta also said the June quarter results include $118 million of profit sharing expense in recognition of Delta employees' contributions to the company's financial performance. Delta also reported it generated $1.3 billion of operating cash flow and $730 million of free cash flow in the June 2013 quarter, and ended the period with adjusted net debt of $10.2 billion.

"Our June quarter operational and financial performance is among the best in Delta's history. These results reflect the momentum we are building at Delta and I want to thank Delta employees worldwide for their great work, which has led to $138 million accrued for our profit sharing program this year in addition to $45 million of Shared Rewards," said Richard Anderson, Delta's chief executive officer. 

"We have significant opportunities ahead of us to expand margins, cash flows and profitability.  With initiatives like our new Terminal 4 at JFK, the Virgin Atlantic joint venture, and our quarterly dividend and share repurchase program, we are relentless in our efforts to build a better airline for our employees, customers, and shareholders," Anderson said.

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