Virgin Atlantic earnings take nosedive to £6.6m

SIR RICHARD BRANSON's airline Virgin Atlantic saw its annual profits fall 85 per cent to just £6.6 million, down from £45.2m the year before.

The group blamed a number of reasons for the nosedive, including losses tied to its Nigerian start-up private flag carrier, higher oil prices, and tax increases and security alerts at Heathrow. Losses at Virgin Nigeria Airways, in which Virgin has a 49 per cent stake, came in at £40.8m.

Stripping out the deficit linked to the African carrier, pre-tax profits at Virgin Atlantic and its tour operating arm Virgin Holidays were £46.8m against £77.5m in the previous year.

Group revenues were up by 13 per cent to a record £2.14 billion, with passenger numbers jumping 10.5 per cent to £5.1m on the back of new routes and growth in its aircraft fleet.

In a statement, Sir Richard said: "Our profits would have been higher had it not been for the frustrating external issues many airlines have had to cope with, such as increased oil prices and the security alerts at Heathrow Airport in the summer of 2006."