maeharasmuse
Nov 6, 09, 10:27 pm
Well, the question is very simple:
Why change a winning formula ???
Emirates Half-Year Net More Than Doubles on Cost Cuts (Update1)
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Emirates Airline, the biggest Arab carrier, said profit in the six months through September more than doubled as it cut costs and fuel expenses fell.
Net income increased to 752 million dirhams ($205 million) from 284 million dirhams a year earlier, Dubai government-owned Emirates said today in an e-mailed statement. Revenue fell 13.5 percent to 9.8 billion dirhams, reflecting lower passenger and cargo yields, the airline said.
“While some say the green shoots of economic recovery are sprouting, we expect it will take at least another year or two before demand for air transport and travel services starts picking up again,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said in the statement.
Total spending declined 15.8 percent during the period to 19 billion dirhams, helped by cost cutting and lower jet-fuel prices, Emirates said.
Capacity increased 22 percent and passenger traffic almost kept pace with a 21 percent increase. Seat occupancy, or load factor, averaged 77.5 percent, down from 78.3 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Haris Anwar in Dubai on Hanwar2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 5, 2009 06:47 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aUIAcowPMFu4
It's not like EK is going to build an international empire, taking the lead in one of the global airline alliances ...
Lufthansa Boosts Net 24% on Austrian, BMI Purchases (Update3)
Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-largest airline, said third-quarter profit increased 24 percent, boosted by the purchase of Austrian Airlines AG and U.K. carrier BMI.
Net income rose to 184 million euros ($273 million) or 40 cents a share, from 149 million euros, or 32 cents, a year earlier, Cologne, Germany-based company said today on its Web site. Analysts had forecast a loss of 21 million euros for the period, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Lufthansa is buying weaker airlines to build market share as the global slump sends traffic tumbling. Airlines will suffer losses of as much as $11 billion this year as they cut fares to win back passengers, according to the International Air Transport Association, and Lufthansa said today that the it’s headed for a “tough” fourth quarter.
“The third quarter is slightly better than expected, but the fourth quarter will be worse,” said Yan Derocles, an analyst at Oddo Securities in Paris with an “add” rating on Lufthansa. “The guidance is slightly more pessimistic. It’s the yield outlook and the fuel price.”
Lufthansa, which reiterated that it will have an operating profit this year, rose 2.6 percent to 10.64 euros, valuing it at 4.87 billion euros. The stock fell 5.5 percent yesterday after the company said earnings were “subject to a very considerable risk” because of the lower ticket prices and higher fuel costs.
‘Very Tense’
“Despite signs of an incipient economic recovery, the market for the air-traffic industry remains very tense,” Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Mayrhuber said today. “In this challenging environment the Lufthansa group still expects a sharp fall in revenue and a diminished full-year result.”
Lufthansa logged a gain on its purchase of Austrian Airlines from so-called negative goodwill of 61 million euros, reflecting the fact that it paid less to buy the unprofitable carrier than the value of its assets. Vienna-based Austrian today said its third-quarter loss widened to 75.7 million euros from 16.4 million euros a year earlier as bookings fell.
Lufthansa is targeting cost savings of 200 million euros at Austrian by 2012 and plans to lower the headcount to 6,000.
BMI will likely contribute a loss of 50 million euros to Lufthansa’s earnings in the fourth quarter and will continue to lose money next year, Chief Financial Officer Stephan Gemkow said. Lufthansa this month hired Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO of India’s Jet Airways, to run the U.K. carrier and intends to complete a restructuring plan for it by the end of November.
Revenue Slide
Revenue at Lufthansa fell 10.7 percent in the quarter to 4.74 billion euros even as passenger number rose 17.1 percent. The company’s cargo unit transported 6.3 percent less freight in the period and will have a “distinctly negative result” for the full year, Mayrhuber said at a press conference.
Lufthansa’s passenger airlines have reduced the number of flights by 5.7 percent and cut capacity by 1.9 percent. The carrier will also shrink the regional fleets at its CityLine and Eurowings units by about one-third by the end of next year.
The company said in July that it’s targeting 1 billion euros of cost savings by the end of 2011, including a 20 percent cut in the workforce to offset the slump in revenue.
Lufthansa will delay deliveries of Airbus SAS’s A380 superjumbo aircraft as it seeks to rein in spending, Mayrhuber said. The carrier has 15 of the planes on order.
The fuel-cost forecast for 2009 was raised by 300 million euros to 3.7 billion euros, with the increase attributed to the acquisitions. The company estimates that the bill will rise to 4.5 billion euros in 2010 as oil prices rise.
Lufthansa on Sept. 3 had its debt rating cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the declining profitability at the airline’s passenger and cargo units.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net; Cornelius Rahn in Frankfurt at crahn2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 29, 2009 14:44 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=ataj9oPVkqPA
Better be careful not to make your FFP too complicated, almost exclusively targeting high-premium FF ... The premium-heavy market is not there really, and I am not sure it's coming back quickly ... The recent panic-driven concessions at BAEC (especially towards the economy pax) are a clear indication that the BA program was way too complex, and way too exclusive.
British Airways Says Prices Stable After Record Loss (Update3)
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- British Airways Plc said declines in passenger traffic and ticket prices may have turned a corner after the carrier reported a record loss for the first half.
British Airways gained 6.7 percent in London trading after the carrier said premium traffic fell 1.4 percent last month versus a 7.9 decline in September and that volumes and yields, a measure of revenue per passenger, are now stable.
“The tone is less pessimistic than last time they reported,” said Douglas McNeill, an analyst at Astaire Securities in London with a “buy” rating on BA stock. “It may be ugly in headline terms, but the comments are consistent with the notion that this is the bottom of the cycle.”
Europe’s third-largest airline had a net loss of 217 million pounds ($360 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30, widening from 49 million pounds a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh will slash capacity 6 percent this winter to ensure planes fly fuller while scrapping 3,000 more jobs on top of 1,900 already eliminated and hiring workers on lower pay.
British Airways, which plans to further delay delivery of its first Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo to defer costs, advanced 12.5 pence to 198.8 pence. The stock has added 11 percent this year, valuing the London-based company at 2.29 billion pounds.
Sales fell 14 percent in the six months to 4.1 billion pounds and are likely to decline by 1 billion pounds for the full year, British Airways said in a statement today. That suggests the slide will slow to 8.2 percent in the second half.
Third quarter revenue was 2.12 billion pounds, according to Bloomberg calculations. Analysts predicted 2.16 billion pounds.
Yield Performance
Airlines may lose $11 billion this year, according to the International Air Transport Association, with British Airways suffering a 14-month decline in premium traffic, which accounts for almost half of revenue, as business passengers stayed away. Yields have fallen about 12 percent this year, British Airways Chief Financial Officer Keith Williams said in an interview.
“Yields have been particularly low over the last six months so we are starting to see some traction,” Williams told Bloomberg Television. “We’re now in a stable period.”
The October decline in business- and first-class traffic was the smallest since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008 and also less severe than the 2 percent drop in economy class travel.
Trans-Atlantic Boost
Overall traffic fell 1.9 percent, with the trans-Atlantic market, the company’s biggest, showing a 2.3 percent increase, compared with declines of 21 percent on routes to Asia and 4.2 percent within Europe. BA is the No. 1 carrier between Europe and North America and deploys 40 percent of capacity there.
The airline’s first Airbus A380 will now join the fleet in 2013, it said today. The delivery schedule for the first six of 12 jetliners on order had already been delayed by an average of five months.
The planes will be handed over at a rate of three a year through 2016, according to British Airways spokeswoman Cathy West, who added that orders for 24 Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners, which begin 2012, and six Boeing 777s aren’t affected.
“I remain optimistic that we can manage our way through this period but, it’s absolutely clear that we must continue to reduce our cost base,” Walsh said on a conference call, adding that the carrier will press on with cost-cutting measures including a reduction in cabin crew numbers on long-haul flights that’s aimed at shaving 140 million pounds from annual expenses.
Strike Threat
British Airways faces its first strike in more than a decade over the issue after last month bypassing the Unite union, which represents 96 percent of 14,000 flight attendants, to agree the equivalent of 1,700 job cuts. Unite yesterday failed to win an injunction blocking the introduction of new practices on Nov. 16.
“Any talk of industrial action is still premature,” Walsh said today. “We’ve still not been informed of the intention to conduct a ballot.”
Walsh’s savings plans include the elimination of 1,200 overseas posts in addition to 3,700 domestic job cuts already announced. The new positions will include some cabin crew employed abroad, spokeswoman West said by telephone.
The carrier said talks on an all-share merger with Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA are continuing, and Iberia shares rose 7.3 percent before trading up 4.9 percent at 2 euros.
British Airways is also awaiting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s verdict on a proposed alliance with the Spanish carrier and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines on lucrative trans- Atlantic routes.
“We remain confident that we have a very strong case and that the merits of our arguments hold up,” Walsh said of the antitrust application.
British Airways said its main pension plan has a deficit of about 2.66 billion pounds, up from 1.17 billion pounds in March. Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London, said he’d estimated a pension gap of 3 billion pounds and that the figure reported today is “quite helpful” to the airline.
To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 6, 2009 12:19 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=akq4mIAC.QZM
And clearly, no need to devaluate / annihilate the existing Skywards program, chasing away the most loyal FF, in the way AF-KL tried to do it after 01.04.2009, crashing their (f)Lying Blue program (and yields, and occupancy numbers) in the process.
Air France Traffic Falls for Ninth Consecutive Month (Update1)
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, said traffic fell 3.7 percent in September, the ninth consecutive monthly decline, as fare cuts failed to attract customers.
The number of passengers dropped 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 6.2 million travelers, Paris-based Air France said today in a statement. The load factor, or proportion of seats filled, rose 1 percentage point to 81.9 percent.
“Market conditions are similar to those prevailing before the summer,” Air France said. Unit revenue, a measure of average ticket prices, “remain under pressure” as fewer people chose to fly, it said, without providing specifics.
Industrywide fares, while halting a slide prompted by the recession, are at “profitless levels,” the International Air Transport Association said on Sept. 29. The trade group is predicting airlines will post $11 billion in losses this year.
Air France fell as much as 25 cents, or 2 percent, to 12.30 euros and was down 1.2 percent as of 9:11 a.m. in Paris trading. That pared the stock’s gain this year to 36 percent, valuing the airline at 3.73 billion euros ($5.49 billion).
Traffic, measured as the number of passengers multiplied by the distance flown, fell 3.9 percent on Air France’s routes to North and South America. The decline was less than the 6.4 percent cut in seat capacity, pushing the load factor up by 2.4 percentage points to 88.3 percent.
Flights to Asia continued to show “slight improvement,” with a drop in traffic limited to 3.6 percent and capacity down 4.4 percent, the airline said. The load factor rose by 0.8 point to 87.1 percent. Routes within Europe, Air France’s biggest market, posted a 5.6 percent traffic decline, with the load factor increasing by 0.1 point to 72.5 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France, at aerothamn@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: October 7, 2009 03:13 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aUBymYSprlFI
Let's just hope some folks at EK are taking note ...
IMHO there really is no need to tamper with their successful Skywards FFP.
.
Why change a winning formula ???
Emirates Half-Year Net More Than Doubles on Cost Cuts (Update1)
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Emirates Airline, the biggest Arab carrier, said profit in the six months through September more than doubled as it cut costs and fuel expenses fell.
Net income increased to 752 million dirhams ($205 million) from 284 million dirhams a year earlier, Dubai government-owned Emirates said today in an e-mailed statement. Revenue fell 13.5 percent to 9.8 billion dirhams, reflecting lower passenger and cargo yields, the airline said.
“While some say the green shoots of economic recovery are sprouting, we expect it will take at least another year or two before demand for air transport and travel services starts picking up again,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said in the statement.
Total spending declined 15.8 percent during the period to 19 billion dirhams, helped by cost cutting and lower jet-fuel prices, Emirates said.
Capacity increased 22 percent and passenger traffic almost kept pace with a 21 percent increase. Seat occupancy, or load factor, averaged 77.5 percent, down from 78.3 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Haris Anwar in Dubai on Hanwar2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 5, 2009 06:47 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aUIAcowPMFu4
It's not like EK is going to build an international empire, taking the lead in one of the global airline alliances ...
Lufthansa Boosts Net 24% on Austrian, BMI Purchases (Update3)
Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-largest airline, said third-quarter profit increased 24 percent, boosted by the purchase of Austrian Airlines AG and U.K. carrier BMI.
Net income rose to 184 million euros ($273 million) or 40 cents a share, from 149 million euros, or 32 cents, a year earlier, Cologne, Germany-based company said today on its Web site. Analysts had forecast a loss of 21 million euros for the period, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Lufthansa is buying weaker airlines to build market share as the global slump sends traffic tumbling. Airlines will suffer losses of as much as $11 billion this year as they cut fares to win back passengers, according to the International Air Transport Association, and Lufthansa said today that the it’s headed for a “tough” fourth quarter.
“The third quarter is slightly better than expected, but the fourth quarter will be worse,” said Yan Derocles, an analyst at Oddo Securities in Paris with an “add” rating on Lufthansa. “The guidance is slightly more pessimistic. It’s the yield outlook and the fuel price.”
Lufthansa, which reiterated that it will have an operating profit this year, rose 2.6 percent to 10.64 euros, valuing it at 4.87 billion euros. The stock fell 5.5 percent yesterday after the company said earnings were “subject to a very considerable risk” because of the lower ticket prices and higher fuel costs.
‘Very Tense’
“Despite signs of an incipient economic recovery, the market for the air-traffic industry remains very tense,” Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Mayrhuber said today. “In this challenging environment the Lufthansa group still expects a sharp fall in revenue and a diminished full-year result.”
Lufthansa logged a gain on its purchase of Austrian Airlines from so-called negative goodwill of 61 million euros, reflecting the fact that it paid less to buy the unprofitable carrier than the value of its assets. Vienna-based Austrian today said its third-quarter loss widened to 75.7 million euros from 16.4 million euros a year earlier as bookings fell.
Lufthansa is targeting cost savings of 200 million euros at Austrian by 2012 and plans to lower the headcount to 6,000.
BMI will likely contribute a loss of 50 million euros to Lufthansa’s earnings in the fourth quarter and will continue to lose money next year, Chief Financial Officer Stephan Gemkow said. Lufthansa this month hired Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO of India’s Jet Airways, to run the U.K. carrier and intends to complete a restructuring plan for it by the end of November.
Revenue Slide
Revenue at Lufthansa fell 10.7 percent in the quarter to 4.74 billion euros even as passenger number rose 17.1 percent. The company’s cargo unit transported 6.3 percent less freight in the period and will have a “distinctly negative result” for the full year, Mayrhuber said at a press conference.
Lufthansa’s passenger airlines have reduced the number of flights by 5.7 percent and cut capacity by 1.9 percent. The carrier will also shrink the regional fleets at its CityLine and Eurowings units by about one-third by the end of next year.
The company said in July that it’s targeting 1 billion euros of cost savings by the end of 2011, including a 20 percent cut in the workforce to offset the slump in revenue.
Lufthansa will delay deliveries of Airbus SAS’s A380 superjumbo aircraft as it seeks to rein in spending, Mayrhuber said. The carrier has 15 of the planes on order.
The fuel-cost forecast for 2009 was raised by 300 million euros to 3.7 billion euros, with the increase attributed to the acquisitions. The company estimates that the bill will rise to 4.5 billion euros in 2010 as oil prices rise.
Lufthansa on Sept. 3 had its debt rating cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the declining profitability at the airline’s passenger and cargo units.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steve Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net; Cornelius Rahn in Frankfurt at crahn2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 29, 2009 14:44 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=ataj9oPVkqPA
Better be careful not to make your FFP too complicated, almost exclusively targeting high-premium FF ... The premium-heavy market is not there really, and I am not sure it's coming back quickly ... The recent panic-driven concessions at BAEC (especially towards the economy pax) are a clear indication that the BA program was way too complex, and way too exclusive.
British Airways Says Prices Stable After Record Loss (Update3)
Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- British Airways Plc said declines in passenger traffic and ticket prices may have turned a corner after the carrier reported a record loss for the first half.
British Airways gained 6.7 percent in London trading after the carrier said premium traffic fell 1.4 percent last month versus a 7.9 decline in September and that volumes and yields, a measure of revenue per passenger, are now stable.
“The tone is less pessimistic than last time they reported,” said Douglas McNeill, an analyst at Astaire Securities in London with a “buy” rating on BA stock. “It may be ugly in headline terms, but the comments are consistent with the notion that this is the bottom of the cycle.”
Europe’s third-largest airline had a net loss of 217 million pounds ($360 million) in the six months ended Sept. 30, widening from 49 million pounds a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh will slash capacity 6 percent this winter to ensure planes fly fuller while scrapping 3,000 more jobs on top of 1,900 already eliminated and hiring workers on lower pay.
British Airways, which plans to further delay delivery of its first Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo to defer costs, advanced 12.5 pence to 198.8 pence. The stock has added 11 percent this year, valuing the London-based company at 2.29 billion pounds.
Sales fell 14 percent in the six months to 4.1 billion pounds and are likely to decline by 1 billion pounds for the full year, British Airways said in a statement today. That suggests the slide will slow to 8.2 percent in the second half.
Third quarter revenue was 2.12 billion pounds, according to Bloomberg calculations. Analysts predicted 2.16 billion pounds.
Yield Performance
Airlines may lose $11 billion this year, according to the International Air Transport Association, with British Airways suffering a 14-month decline in premium traffic, which accounts for almost half of revenue, as business passengers stayed away. Yields have fallen about 12 percent this year, British Airways Chief Financial Officer Keith Williams said in an interview.
“Yields have been particularly low over the last six months so we are starting to see some traction,” Williams told Bloomberg Television. “We’re now in a stable period.”
The October decline in business- and first-class traffic was the smallest since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008 and also less severe than the 2 percent drop in economy class travel.
Trans-Atlantic Boost
Overall traffic fell 1.9 percent, with the trans-Atlantic market, the company’s biggest, showing a 2.3 percent increase, compared with declines of 21 percent on routes to Asia and 4.2 percent within Europe. BA is the No. 1 carrier between Europe and North America and deploys 40 percent of capacity there.
The airline’s first Airbus A380 will now join the fleet in 2013, it said today. The delivery schedule for the first six of 12 jetliners on order had already been delayed by an average of five months.
The planes will be handed over at a rate of three a year through 2016, according to British Airways spokeswoman Cathy West, who added that orders for 24 Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners, which begin 2012, and six Boeing 777s aren’t affected.
“I remain optimistic that we can manage our way through this period but, it’s absolutely clear that we must continue to reduce our cost base,” Walsh said on a conference call, adding that the carrier will press on with cost-cutting measures including a reduction in cabin crew numbers on long-haul flights that’s aimed at shaving 140 million pounds from annual expenses.
Strike Threat
British Airways faces its first strike in more than a decade over the issue after last month bypassing the Unite union, which represents 96 percent of 14,000 flight attendants, to agree the equivalent of 1,700 job cuts. Unite yesterday failed to win an injunction blocking the introduction of new practices on Nov. 16.
“Any talk of industrial action is still premature,” Walsh said today. “We’ve still not been informed of the intention to conduct a ballot.”
Walsh’s savings plans include the elimination of 1,200 overseas posts in addition to 3,700 domestic job cuts already announced. The new positions will include some cabin crew employed abroad, spokeswoman West said by telephone.
The carrier said talks on an all-share merger with Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA are continuing, and Iberia shares rose 7.3 percent before trading up 4.9 percent at 2 euros.
British Airways is also awaiting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s verdict on a proposed alliance with the Spanish carrier and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines on lucrative trans- Atlantic routes.
“We remain confident that we have a very strong case and that the merits of our arguments hold up,” Walsh said of the antitrust application.
British Airways said its main pension plan has a deficit of about 2.66 billion pounds, up from 1.17 billion pounds in March. Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London, said he’d estimated a pension gap of 3 billion pounds and that the figure reported today is “quite helpful” to the airline.
To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 6, 2009 12:19 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=akq4mIAC.QZM
And clearly, no need to devaluate / annihilate the existing Skywards program, chasing away the most loyal FF, in the way AF-KL tried to do it after 01.04.2009, crashing their (f)Lying Blue program (and yields, and occupancy numbers) in the process.
Air France Traffic Falls for Ninth Consecutive Month (Update1)
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, said traffic fell 3.7 percent in September, the ninth consecutive monthly decline, as fare cuts failed to attract customers.
The number of passengers dropped 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 6.2 million travelers, Paris-based Air France said today in a statement. The load factor, or proportion of seats filled, rose 1 percentage point to 81.9 percent.
“Market conditions are similar to those prevailing before the summer,” Air France said. Unit revenue, a measure of average ticket prices, “remain under pressure” as fewer people chose to fly, it said, without providing specifics.
Industrywide fares, while halting a slide prompted by the recession, are at “profitless levels,” the International Air Transport Association said on Sept. 29. The trade group is predicting airlines will post $11 billion in losses this year.
Air France fell as much as 25 cents, or 2 percent, to 12.30 euros and was down 1.2 percent as of 9:11 a.m. in Paris trading. That pared the stock’s gain this year to 36 percent, valuing the airline at 3.73 billion euros ($5.49 billion).
Traffic, measured as the number of passengers multiplied by the distance flown, fell 3.9 percent on Air France’s routes to North and South America. The decline was less than the 6.4 percent cut in seat capacity, pushing the load factor up by 2.4 percentage points to 88.3 percent.
Flights to Asia continued to show “slight improvement,” with a drop in traffic limited to 3.6 percent and capacity down 4.4 percent, the airline said. The load factor rose by 0.8 point to 87.1 percent. Routes within Europe, Air France’s biggest market, posted a 5.6 percent traffic decline, with the load factor increasing by 0.1 point to 72.5 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France, at aerothamn@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: October 7, 2009 03:13 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aUBymYSprlFI
Let's just hope some folks at EK are taking note ...
IMHO there really is no need to tamper with their successful Skywards FFP.
.