Virgin Atlantic profit up, sees more growth this year

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - British-based airline Virgin Atlantic (Shanghai: 600558.SS - news) said annual profit almost doubled in 2015, and was set to grow significantly in 2016 as its fuel hedges unwind, enabling it to fully benefit from the lower oil price.

The airline, 51 percent-owned by its billionaire founder Richard Branson and 49 percent-owned by U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . carrier Delta Air Lines, posted annual pretax profit of 22.5 million pounds ($31.93 million) in 2015, compared to the 12.4 million pounds it made in 2014.

For this year, Virgin Atlantic said profits would grow significantly as fuel hedges unwind, producing noticeable savings.

While the airline was helped by a 34 percent fall in the crude price last year, that benefit was limited by hedging losses which amounted to 198 million pounds, it said.

Virgin also said it was helped by the growth of its joint venture partnership with Delta on transatlantic services. ($1 = 0.7048 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)