British Airways owner lifts guidance after strong third quarter

International Airlines Group, owner of British Airways and Iberia, upgraded its annual guidance on Friday as growing passenger numbers and lower fuel costs led to strong third-quarter profits.

IAG, which bought Ireland's Aer Lingus in August, predicted full-year operating profit would range from 2.25 billion euros and 2.3 billion euros ($2.46 billion and $2.52 billion).

That compared with the previous profit guidance of 2.2 billion euros.

IAG added in a results statement that net profits jumped 42 percent to 848 million euros in the three months to the end of September.

Excluding Aer Lingus, it also posted a third-quarter operating profit of 1.21 billion euros, beating analysts' forecasts of 1.19 billion euros.

Revenues rebounded 15 percent to 6.756 billion euros, boosted by a 17.7-percent jump in passenger numbers to 27.564 million people.