EasyJet Stock Up On FY23 Profit, Positive Outlook

(RTTNews) - Shares of EasyJet Plc were gaining more than 3 percent in the trading in London after the British low-cost airliner on Tuesday reported a profit for fiscal 2023, compared to prior year's loss, with significant contribution from easyJet holidays and strong growth in demand.

Looking ahead, the company said fiscal 2024 has begun positively with strong year-on-year profit growth in October and revenue per seat on early bookings for Q2-Q4 pleasingly ahead of last year. easyJet holidays' bookings also show strong growth.

For October, Passenger Revenue Per Seat or RPS was up 12 percent.

For the first quarter, easyJet does not currently expect loss to improve year on year, despite positive underlying strength. The company noted that early winter results for the new year is expected to see an impact from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

For the first quarter, RPS is expected to be ahead from last year, despite being impacted by Middle East conflict. The second quarter to fourth quarter RPS will all be ahead of the previous year.

The present booking strength for summer 2024, coupled with supply constraints in Europe, provide a positive outlook for the year as a whole.

easyJet further said it aims for continued progress towards medium-term profitability ambitions.

Johan Lundgren, easyJet's Chief Executive Officer, said, "We see a positive outlook for this year with airline and holidays bookings both ahead year on year... We are confident about the future and the opportunity ahead, focusing on capital discipline and driving our low cost model to achieve our ambitious medium term targets."

The company further said it remains on track to deliver disciplined growth of around 9 percent in fiscal 2024.

The company also reinstated dividends, proposing an ordinary dividend of 4.5 pence per share payable in early 2024.

For the 12-month period to September 30, the company posted a pre-tax income of 432 million pounds, compared with a loss of 208 million pounds, registered last year.

easyJet holidays profit before tax grew 221 percent from last year to 122 million pounds.

The company's headline pre-tax income was at 455 million pounds as against previous year's loss of 178 million pounds.

After tax, profit stood at 324 million pounds or 42.7 pence per share as against last year's loss of 169 million pounds or 22.4 pence per share.

Headline post-tax income was at 341 million pounds, compared with a loss of 147 million pounds a year ago.

Headline operating earnings surged to at 476 million pounds from 3 million pounds a year ago.

EBITDAR more than doubled to 1.126 billion pounds from 539 million pounds last year.

Total revenue increased 42 percent to 8.17 billion pounds from 5.77 billion pounds a year ago, mainly reflecting pricing strength, increased flown capacity, improved load factors and the continued growth of easyJet holidays.

Passenger revenue climbed 37 percent from last year to 5.22 billion pounds, with RPS up 20 percent to 56.37 pounds. The growth was driven by easyJet's optimised network at primary airports, as demand remained strong through the year.

Group ancillary revenue climbed 51 percent to 2.95 billion pounds, with increased capacity and the rapid growth of easyJet holidays with a 77 percent increase in customers.

The airline's capacity improved 14 percent to 92.6 million seats from last year's 81.5 million seats. The number of passengers stood at 82.8 million, up 19 percent from 69.7 million a year ago. Load factor rose to 89 percent from 86 percent in 2022.

In London, easyJet shares were trading at 418.60 pence, up 3.4 percent.

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