International Airlines Group (IAG) has beaten expectations in 2024 by reaching a record operating profit of €4.3bn (£3.6bn).

The owner of airlines including British Airways and Aer Lingus saw its revenue increase by 9% to €32.1bn (£26.5bn), while its profit after tax jumped by 2.9% to €2.73bn (£2.25bn).

The firm also recorded a free cash flow of €3.55bn (£2.93bn), after it invested €2.82bn (£2.33bn) into the business.

For the full-year, IAG has proposed a final dividend of six cents per share, taking the full dividend to nine cents per share, totalling €435m (£359.2m).

Chief executive officer at IAG, Luis Gallego, said: "These results highlight the quality of our businesses and effectiveness of our strategy, underpinned by the successful execution of our transformation programme across the group. We are delivering world-class margins and returns, in line with the targets we set out to the market just over a year ago.

"We are focused on continuing to make our brands the first choice for customers, by growing our network and enhancing the customer proposition, while our disciplined capital allocation ensures we can continue to invest in the business, deliver strong financial results and create sustainable value for our shareholders."

The firm has also announced its intention to return up to €1bn (£830m) through a share buyback scheme across the next 12 months.

In its outlook, IAG said that it is "confident to deliver world-class margins and returns", as "strong customer demand continues".

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, concluded: "More dividends, more share buybacks; it’s remarkable how far International Consolidated Airlines has travelled since the depths of the pandemic when it was drowning in debt. Having nursed its balance sheet back to good health, the airline operator has got itself in a comfortable enough position to reward shareholders while continuing to invest in expanding its fleet of aircraft.

"It has enjoyed growth in revenue, operating profit, free cash flow and margins – everything that an investor hopes a company will do. So far so good, but the outlook might not be as rosy as IAG implies.

"It flags strong customer demand yet concerns about the global economic outlook imply stormier weather for airlines. Consumers might not feel as flush with their cash, while business travellers could look to do more meetings virtually if their employer is seeking cost efficiencies."

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