Alonso, companies do play with the figures to some extent, but that is mostly reflected in the net profit or loss.
A more reliable factor is, of course, the operational results.
For instance, in 2010, despite the €86m profit that you wrote, actually, the operations itself was a loss of €26m.
There is a key figure: Revenue. Cost (procurements and salaries) have not changed much, whereas revenue is down. It was very significant for 2009.
Here is how Spanish GDP has evolved
Spain GDP Growth Rate
The correlation with IB's performance is clear. And the bad news is that due to Spain having little room for manoeuvre by being trapped in the Euro (therefore it cannot strive to be more competitive by adjusting its currency), the prospects are bleak for many years to come.
I think that IB Express, if it were allowed to expand without hindrance by Sepla, it would play a major part in changing IB's prospects, by offering an efficient and cost effective short haul feeding operation.
IB did already do some trimming of routes (just a correction, in fact, after the expansion they tried with the likes of FOR/REC/COR and routes from Barcelona proved a mistake - well, the crisis started to bite harder too)
I believe that if they had not done the trimming, their losses would be even larger today, simply because they would have spent a lot more money with that operation, without a match in income.
The losses are still huge, and so more trimming is required. And yet, I believe that IB can have great prospects if it could have a more flexible workforce who have a grasp of the concept of being in a competitive environment - and increasingly so- and who could change their attitude to be more competitive and realistic.
Of course a more efficient fleet can help, and Latin America still offers a lot of potential. I hope that Iberia can transform itself into a leaner carrier.
It's a big if, as it has a lot of baggage.
And if they don't, there is Vueling, soon to be wholly owned by IAG which can happily take over IB's job if it proves impossible to restructure and has to close down.