Finance
Norwegian Air's operating profit lags forecast due to higher costs
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 13, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 13, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 13, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 13, 2026
Norwegian Air Shuttle missed Q4 profit expectations, proposing a 0.80 crowns dividend. The airline forecasts 3% ASK growth in 2026.
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle said on Friday its operating result turned to a profit in the fourth quarter, but missed market forecasts due to higher than expected costs.
Increased air traffic control (ATC) and airport charges had a negative impact on operating costs compared to 2024, the carrier said in the earnings statement.
The group's operating profit was 21 million Norwegian crowns ($2.2 million) in the quarter, well below a company-compiled consensus of 201 million crowns. In the same period last year, it had booked a loss of 93.2 million crowns.
Total operating expenses excluding lease, depreciation and amortisation were 7.29 billion crowns, higher than the 7.03 billion crowns expected by analysts.
Norwegian's unit costs, or the average cost of flying an aircraft seat, rose 6% from a year ago to 0.80 crowns in the quarter. The airline expects its unit cost excluding fuel to rise by a low single-digit percentage in 2026.
The budget airline forecast overall production, or available seat kilometres, growth of 3% for its main Norwegian unit in 2026. The yearly ASK growth forecast for its domestic carrier Widerøe is about 4%.
Last year, Norwegian had only provided a capacity outlook.
The company also proposed a dividend of 0.80 crowns per share for the year.
($1 = 9.55 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Vera Dvorakova in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
Operating profit is the profit a company makes from its normal business operations, excluding any income derived from non-operating activities like investments or sales of assets.
A dividend is a payment made by a corporation to its shareholders, usually as a distribution of profits. It can be issued in cash or additional shares.
Available seat miles (ASK) is a measure of an airline's passenger carrying capacity. It is calculated by multiplying the number of available seats by the number of miles flown.
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