SAS Rules Out Lithuanian Airlines Buy

Scandinavian airline SAS AB has ruled out bidding for state-owned Lithuania Airlines, but is still looking to expand in the Baltic states, a company official told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday. "We have decided not to go take part in the privatization of Lithuanian Airlines as the stake would have been too small for us to live up to our financial targets," SAS press officer Ulf Thorne told Dow Jones Newswires. However, SAS is still looking for expansion in the region and is interested in acquiring a stake in partly state-owned Estonian Air. Talks with Danish carrier Maersk Air, a unit of Danish conglomerate A.P. Moeller A/S (K.MAP), about buying its 49% stake in Estonian Air, failed recently. Thorne declined to reveal why talks failed, but said SAS remains interested in buying the stake. Estonian Air is 34% state-owned. Estonian investment bank Baltic Cresco Investment Group owns 17%. Unlike the weak markets in Scandinavia and Western Europe, "the markets in the Baltic region are fast growing and Estonian Air posted its strongest earnings ever last year," Thorne said. Estonian Air posted a profit of EUR2.5 million in 2002, up from EUR1 million in 2001. Sales grew to EUR53.7 million from EUR51.1 million.