BRITISH AIRWAYS’ HALF-YEAR PROFITS ARE HALVED

   British Airways reported a fall of more than 50 percent in operating profits for the quarter and half-year period ended Sept. 30.
    For the latest quarter, operating profit dropped to '117 million ($188 million), from '262 million in July-September of last year.
    Net profit was '30 million ($48 million), down 86 percent from the '216 million profit reported in the same quarter of 1998.
    Revenue was '2.41 billion ($3.89 billion), down 1 percent on the '2.44 billion billion revenue reported at the same time last year.
    For the six-month period ended Sept. 30, operating profit dropped by 51 percent, to '211 million ($340 million), from '435 million. Net profit decreased by 37 percent, to '218 million ($351 million), from '347 million. Revenue was off by 2 percent, falling to '4.64 billion ($7.46 billion), from '4.72 billion.
    British Airways blamed the lower profit results on low passenger fares and excess capacity.
    Cargo yields were also marginally down on last year.
BA carried 221,000 tons in the quarter ended Sept. 30, up 4 percent on last year, and 425,000 tons in the latest six-month period, up 0.5 percent.