IAG target Aer Lingus reports fall in second-quarter profit

DUBLIN, July 29 (Reuters) - Irish airline Aer Lingus (Other OTC: AELGF - news) reported an 11 percent fall in second-quarter profit on Wednesday due to a weaker euro, a day before the deadline for shareholders to accept a takeover bid by British Airways-owner IAG.

International Airlines Group has secured the agreement of more than 50 percent of shareholders for the 1.3 billion euro($1.4 billion) takeover and has said it hopes to get 90 percent by a Thursday deadline. Aer Lingus declined to comment on the rate of acceptance.

Aer Lingus, which flew 10 million passengers last year compared to IAG's 77 million, reported operating profit before exceptional items of 34.5 million euros in the three months to June, a fall of 11 percent from the same period last year.

Chief Executive Stephen Kavanagh said the decline was primarily due to adverse currency moves, a weaker euro versus the dollar and pound, which hit the airline to the tune of 21 million euros.

But he said "the headwind would become a tailwind" in the second half and he was confident about underlying trends.

Revenues at Aer Lingus' expanding long-haul business rose 24 percent in the second quarter, though short-haul revenue fell four percent due to "tactical reductions" on some routes.

Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's largest airline Ryanair has said it will target short-haul competitors with average fare cuts of up to 8 percent this winter.

Aer Lingus Chief Financial Officer Bernard Bot said he was confident Aer Lingus could defend its position, aided by a new premium economy product. ($1 = 0.9060 euros) (Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by David Clarke)