AIRLINES

Widespread fare discounts and weaker demand for premium-class seats squeezed the quarterly profit margin of British Airways, which reported a 46% drop in its year-on-year operating profit. However, pressure on profit was more than offset by $285 million that BA earned from the sale of assets, particularly its stake in Galileo International Inc., a global ticketing company. BA’s pretax profit rose 38% to $322 million, for the three months ended June 30, up from $233 million a year ago. BA also confirmed plans to reduce its capacity by up to 12% over the next three years to help cope with an excess of seats on many air routes. BA’s American depositary receipts rose 6 cents to close at $63.81 on the NYSE.