GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (G3, São Paulo Congonhas) said it would buy back up to three million preferred shares traded on the Brazilian stock market over the next 12 months. It made the announcement after posting a narrowed loss for the second quarter, results that provided further evidence of its strengthening position in its home market, Reuters reported.

Brazil's largest airline by passengers carried reported a quarterly loss of BRL194.6 million real (USD50.34 million), compared to a BRL1.9 billion real (USD490 million) loss for the same period last year, which it attributed to higher revenues resulting from shrinking competition.

The results follow the suspension of rival Avianca Brasil (São Paulo Congonhas) on May 24. Goldman Sachs analyst Bruno Amorim said in early July that GOL's significantly stronger load factor for June (up 5.4% year-on-year to 83%, even as capacity grew by 4.6%) was the primary beneficiary of Avianca's problems, and that the Brazilian carrier's share price could climb by 33% over the coming 12 months, local financial publications reported at the time.

GOL has struggled for years to turn a consistent profit, despite rising revenues, and has been a casualty of Brazil's weakening currency because costs such as fuel and aircraft leasing are paid for in US dollars.