El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), controlled by Kenny Rozenberg (48%) again presented strong financial results in the first quarter of 2025 due to its continued dominant market share at Ben Gurion airport (44%), throughout the quarter, and in particular on its profitable routes to North America, where it holds a market share exceeding 90%.
In the first quarter of 2025, El Al reported $774 million revenue, up 5% compared from the corresponding quarter of 2024, and $96 million net profit, up 19% from the the corresponding quarter. EBITDAR was $213 million up 9%.
On forecasts for the second quarter, El Al notes, “The gradual return of foreign airlines to Israel continued at the beginning of the second quarter of 2025, but during May 2025, to a missile attack on Israeli territory, which landed in Ben Gurion airport’s grounds, cancellations and delays of flight operations by some foreign airlines to and from Israel began, which led to increased demand.”
Consequently, El Al sees the second quarter of 2025, in whole or in part, also being characterized by a trend in which supply of seats at Ben Gurion Airport is limited in relation to demand. “Therefore, the company expects to continue operating at high occupancy rates and in such a way that Revenue per Available Seat Kilometers (RASK) rate is expected to be similar to the corresponding quarter last year,” El Al said.
Meanwhile, El Al has managed to accumulate large sums of money in its coffers. The big winner is owner Kenny Rosenberg, who acquired control during the Covid pandemic. He invested about NIS 800 million in the airline and currently holds shares worth NIS 3.1 billion, a profit “on paper” of NIS 2.3 billion.
El Al’s stock is trading at a market cap of NIS 6.65 billion – a 336% jump over the past three years.
Impressive financial results in 2024 and an ambitious forecast for the coming years
In 2024, El Al reported record revenue of $3.4 billion, up 37% from 2023. Operating profit (EBITDAR) amounted to $1.1 billion, double the previous year. Net profit jumped 4.7 times and to $545 million.
In its annual report, El Al set itself an ambitious goal of $4 billion by 2030, based on a market share of 25% Ben Gurion Airport (flying 7.6 million people) and about 4 million members of its frequent flyer loyalty club. The airline estimates that there will be a decline in revenue in 2026 after the peak results of 2024.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on May 21, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
