easyJet PLC on Tuesday celebrated a ‘record’ set of full-year results as it reinstated its dividends and reported a swing to profit.
The London Luton Airport-based low-cost airline said it swung to a pretax profit of £432 million in the financial year that ended September 30 from a loss of £208 million the year before.
This was driven by a 42% jump in revenue to £8.17 billion from £5.77 billion a year ago. easyJet credited a ‘record’ performance in the summer, which it attributed to its recent initiatives, which helped to offset the hit from higher fuel costs and external operating challenges.
In particular, the airline cited ‘pricing strength, increased flown capacity, improved load factors and the continued growth of easyJet holidays’.
Group ancillary revenue rose 51% to £2.95 billion from £1.95 billion a year ago, while passenger numbers totalled 82.8 million during the period with an 89% load factor. This reflects a 19% increase from 69.7 million passengers in financial 2022 with a load factor of 86%.
The budget airline also reinstated dividends at 4.5 pence per share. It had last paid a dividend for financial 2019 of 43.9p per share, which had represented a 25% cut from financial 2018. The amount for financial 2023 represents 10% of profit after tax, which it expects to increase to 20% in financial 2024.
Looking ahead, easyJet said financial 2024 has begun ‘positively’, having recorded strong year-on-year profit growth in the month of October. It also said revenue per seat on early bookings for the second to fourth quarters is ‘pleasingly ahead of last year’.
‘We see a positive outlook for this year with airline and holidays bookings both ahead year-on-year and recent consumer research highlights that around three quarters of Britons plan to spend more on their holidays versus last year with travel continuing to be the top priority for household discretionary spending,’ said Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren. ‘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.’
Shares in easyJet were trading up 1.5% at 410.90p each in London on Tuesday morning.
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