EasyJet forecasts higher than expected pre-tax profit
EasyJet revenue leapt 10.5% in the third quarter, rising to £1.142 million following a 3.6% increase in capacity and improvement in revenue per seat.
As a result, chief executive Carolyn McCall said the airline expected to make a pre-tax profit of £450 million to £480 million for the full year.
In the third quarter, revenue per seat grew by 6.1% to £61.44 per seat. The airline said the increase was driven by "network optimisation" and the on-going programme of revenue initiatives including the ‘europe by easyJet’ campaign, improvements to the revenue management system and the ‘benign capacity environment’ for easyJet.
However, the load factor of 88.2% was slightly lower than the previous year, primarily due to the fact that Easter fell a week earlier. The total number of passengers carried rose 2.6% to 16.4 million.
Cost per seat, excluding fuel, rose 4.5% due to rises in airport charges at regulated airports, especially those in Spain and Italy, together with higher than expected disruption.
Announcing the results, McCall said: "easyJet has delivered a strong performance in the third quarter in a benign capacity environment for easyJet. The strong performance demonstrates further progress against the easyJet strategy and the commitment to deliver returns and profitable growth for shareholders.
"With 73% of second half seats now booked, easyJet expects profit before tax for the year to 30 September 2013 to be between £450 million and £480 million compared to the £317 million profit before tax reported in the prior financial year assuming no further significant disruption."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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