Budget airline easyJet was the FTSE 100’s biggest winner after announcing strong results for the last quarter and predicting another record summer period.
At 453.9p per share, easyJet’s share price was last 6.1% higher in Wednesday trading.
The carrier’s total revenues rose 11% in the three months to June, to £2.6 billion, it said. This drove headline pre-tax profit 16% higher, to £236 million.
Airline passenger revenues improving 7% year on year to £1.6 billion, while ancillary revenues were up 11%, at £693 million. But it was the company’s easyJet Holidays package trip division that stole the headlines.
Turnover here soared 42%, to £336 million.
easyJet Holidays is now expected to generate pre-tax profit of above £180 million for the full year. This is up from previous guidance of above £170 million.
The business flew 28.1 million seats in the last quarter, it said, up 7% from a year earlier. The number of passengers it carried rose to 25.3 million from 23.5 million.
Total airline revenue per seat improved 1% in quarter three, to £81.61. This was thanks to a 4% increase in ancillary revenues per seat.
Total costs per seat rose 1% to £75.82, however, reflecting a rise in fuel costs.
Another Record-Setting Summer?
Chief executive Johan Lundgren said that “our strong performance in the quarter has been driven by more customers choosing easyJet for our unrivalled network of destinations and value for money.”
He added that “this result was achieved despite Easter falling into March this year, demonstrating the continued importance of travel and this means we remain on track to deliver another record-breaking summer, taking us a step closer to our medium term targets.”
easyJet said that bookings for the final quarter “continue to build,” with 69% of its seats now sold. It has 7% more capacity available for quarter four than it did in the same 2023 period.
The flyer has now sold 1.5 million more seats for the peak summer period than it did last year.
Solid Demand
Analyst Adam Vettese of eToro commented that “easyJet’s update reads pretty well with a 16% rise in profit and demand looking strong for the important July to September period.”
He notes that its latest statement “comes just a couple of days after a very concerning update from Ryanair with missed forecasts and more price savvy consumers putting pressure on fare.”
On Monday, Ryanair announced a 46% slide in its own June quarter profits as it cut prices to attract more cautious consumers. The Irish flyer also predicted that fares during the current quarter would be “materially lower than last summer.”
Vettese added “whilst a race-to-the-bottom in prices would certainly not be favourable for easyJet either, the firm doesn’t have the same exposure to Boeing-related issues that Ryanair does and is also benefiting from strong performance in package holidays.”
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