Kevin O'Toole/LONDON AER LINGUS IS BACK making profits after the crises of the past two years, which executive chairman Bernie Cahill admits brought the Irish flag-carrier close to collapse. The group has had to fight its way back from "the very edge of a precipice", says Cahill, revealing the airline group's latest financial results. Because of an accounting change, the group has not published results since March 1993, when it sank to pre-tax losses of IR£47 million ($75 million). Aer Lingus reports that, over the 21 months to the end of 1994, it has managed to produce a nominal profit of IR£10.4 million before tax. The result excludes charges of IR£92 million largely to cover restructuring, aircraft write-downs and the cost of the protracted strike at the TEAM Aer Lingus maintenance operation. TEAM Aer Lingus, which resumed full operations at the start of 1995 under a new union agreement, made losses of IR£28 million over the 21-month period.