US Airways posts net loss on fuel spike and hedges

CHICAGO (Reuters) - US Airways Group (LCC.N) posted a third-quarter net loss on Thursday, hurt by a spike in fuel prices in July and then a rapid decline that eroded the value of its fuel hedges.

The airline reported a loss of $865 million, or $8.45 per share, compared with a profit of $177 million, or $1.87 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding a $488 million writedown related to the hedges, and other one-time items, the airline said its loss was $242 million, or $2.35 per share. That compares with an average Wall Street forecast of a loss of $2.54 per share, according to Reuters Estimates

The airline industry has been battered this year by soaring fuel costs, which rose to a record high in July alongside crude oil prices.

The price of a barrel of oil has fallen about 50 percent since July, causing many airlines to record millions in noncash losses as their fuel hedges become less valuable.

US Airways said third-quarter revenue was $3.3 billion, up 7.4 percent over the comparable period in 2007.

The company ended the third quarter with $2.3 billion in total cash and investments. Separately, it said it had raised $950 million in financing and near-term liquidity commitments.

(Reporting by Kyle Peterson; editing by John Wallace)