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Airline’s shares tumble on higher fuel costs

Monday, March 15, 2004 | 9:27 a.m.

ATLANTA -- Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. fell as much as 11 percent today after the third-largest U.S. airline widened a first-quarter loss forecast to $400 million from a January estimate of as much as $350 million.

The forecast includes about $47 million from fuel-related costs and reflects "continued pressures on passenger revenue," Atlanta-based Delta said Friday in a statement following the end of regular trading. The net loss in the year-earlier period was $466 million, or $3.81 a share. For this quarter, 12 analysts polled by Thomson Financial estimate the loss at $2.51 a share.

Prices for jet fuel, the second-biggest cost for airlines after wages and benefits, have risen 41 percent since April. The fuel expense includes higher prices as well as costs to settle contracts in which it tries to hedge against the rising expenses, Delta said in the statement.

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