Norwegian Air misses profit expectations, proposes dividend (updated)

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA

13/02/2026 06:18

Adds share move in paragraph 1, CEO quote on airport fees in paragraph 5, analyst comment in paragraph 7.

By Vera Dvorakova

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle's NAS.OL fourth-quarter operating result turned to a profit but missed market forecasts due to higher than expected costs, sending its shares 5% lower in early Oslo trading on Friday.

Increased air traffic control and airport charges had a negative impact on operating costs compared to 2024, the carrier said in an earnings statement.

The group's operating profit was 21 million Norwegian crowns ($2.2 million) in the quarter, well below a company-compiled consensus of 201 million crowns. In the same period last year, it had booked a loss of 93.2 million crowns.

Total operating expenses excluding lease, depreciation and amortisation were 7.29 billion crowns, higher than the 7.03 billion crowns expected by analysts.

Norwegian is in constant dialogue about airport fees with Norway's airport operator Avinor, along with those of Denmark and Sweden, CEO Geir Karlsen told Reuters. "What we ended up with for 2026 was not even close to as bad as it looked when these dialogues started," he added.

Norwegian's unit costs, or the average cost of flying an aircraft seat, rose 6% from a year ago to 0.80 crowns in the fourth quarter. The airline expects its unit cost excluding fuel to rise by a low single-digit percentage in 2026.

The report did not provide further comfort on the cost outlook, analysts from Pareto Securities said in a note to investors.

The budget airline forecast overall production, or available seat kilometres, growth of 3% for its main Norwegian unit in 2026. The yearly ASK growth forecast for its domestic carrier Widerøe is about 4%. Last year, Norwegian had only provided a capacity outlook.

The company also proposed a dividend of 0.80 crowns per share for the year.

($1 = 9.55 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Vera Dvorakova in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

((Vera.dvorakova@thomsonreuters.com))