London: Lufthansa is suffering from a credibility problem.

For months, the German airline has been denying interest in Alitalia and Iberia, rivals from Italy and Spain that are up for sale. But few in the industry believe the protestations.

The carrier has shown skill in deals - it bought Swiss in 2005 - and it has lots of cash. Its copybook integration of Swiss, resulting in full consolidation in July, looks set to lift nine-month operating profit, due today, above one billion euros ($1.42 billion).

This success make it an easy target for whispering campaigns out of Rome and Madrid, which suggest Lufthansa is in talks, variously, with sellers and buyers as the next step in the consolidation of Europe's airlines approaches.