The German state had bought almost a quarter of Europe’s largest airline in the course of the Coronavirus crisis, and now, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, it is giving up some of the shares, making a clear profit.
The Economic Stabilisation Fund (WSF) wants to reduce its share in Lufthansa from 20 to 15 percent in the coming weeks. This means that up to 29.9 million Lufthansa shares, which the federal government acquired in summer 2020 in order to stabilise Lufthansa during the Coronavirus crisis for a nominal value of 2.56 euros each, will come onto the market.
Lufthansa shares are currently being traded for more than 9 euros on the stock exchanges, so that a significant profit can be realised for the federal government.
The direct participation of 20 percent of the shares with a nominal value of 300 million euros was the smaller part of the German state aid of up to 6 billion euros. In addition, there was a KfW loan that had already been repaid, as well as state aid from Austria, Switzerland and Belgium, so that Lufthansa finally had 9 billion euros at its disposal.
However, the federal government remains a major shareholder and will continue to accompany the stabilisation.
